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to  f  ^e  feifirari?  of 
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1    C;:uU      i-l^i 


(SIGN  OF  THE  BIG  BOOK,) 

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g@^  Keeps  constantly  on  hand  the  largest  and  best  assort- 
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|>@°=  Gray  on  the  Priesthood  of  Mdchisedeck. — This  is  the 
best  and  the  only  treatise  on  this  perplexing  subject.  It  at 
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Bible 

VS^m,  STEWART, 


BETHUNE'S    ORATIONS. 


Digitized  by  tine  Internet  Arciiive 

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ORATIONS 


OCCASIONAL  DISCOURSES 


BY 


y 

GEORGE  W.  BETHUNE,  D.  D. 


NE  W-Y  ORK: 

GEORGE    P.    PUTNAM,   155    BROADWAY. 

LONDON: 

Putnam's  American  Agency,  49  Bow  Lane,  Cheapside. 

1850. 


Enteeed,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1849,  by 

George  W.  Bethune, 

in  the  Clerk's  OfiSce  of  the  District  Court  for  the  Southern  District 

of  New- York. 


AND  0 VEE: 

J.  D.  TLAGG  &  W.  II.  WAnD'miLL, 

STEEEOTTPERS  AND  PEINTERS. 


ADVERTISEMENT. 


The  frequent  requests  made  of  the  author  and  his 
publishers  for  copies  of  the  Addresses,  etc.  now  collect- 
ed, have  suggested  their  publication  in  the  present  form. 
On  reviewing  them  for  the  press,  the  author  has  discov- 
ered the  repetition  of  some  main  thoughts  in  several  of 
the  discourses ;  but,  as  they  were  pronounced  before  dif- 
ferent audiences,  and  were  meant  to  be  of  a  practically 
useful  character,  it  was  hardly  possible  or  desirable  to 
avoid  what  might,  had  the  circumstances  been  otherwise, 
have  deserved  censure.  At  any  rate,  he  has  not  felt 
that  he  would  be  justified  in  making  alterations,  but  gives 
them  as  they  were  originally  presented. 

Philadelphia,  July,  1849. 


CONTENTS. 


Page. 
Genius  ;  Address  before  the  Literary  Societies  of  Union  College, 

1837. 1 


Tbue  Glory  ;  Sermon  on  the  death  of  Stephen  Van  Eensselaer, 
1839 35 


Lbisuee,  its  Uses  and  Abuses;  Lecture  before  the  New  York 
Mercantile  Library  Association,  1839. 55 

The  Age  op  Pericles;  Lecture  before  the  Athenian  Institute 
of  Philadelphia,  1839 87 

Oration  before  the  Literary  Societies  of  the  University  of  Penn- 
sylvania, 1840 125 

The  Prospects  op  Art  in  the  United  States;  Address 
before  the  Artists' Fund  Society  of  Philadelphia,  1840.       .        .157 

Discourse  on  the  death  of  William  H.  Harrison,  President  of  the 
United  States,  1841 197 

The  Eloquence  op  the  Pulpit;   Oration  before  the  Porter 
Rhetorical  Society  of  the  Andover  Theological  Seminary,  1842.  209 


VJU  CONTENTS. 

The  Ddties  op  Educated  Men;  Oration  before  the  Literary 
Societies  of  Dickinson  College,  1842 281 


JIbe  Duty  op  a  Patriot  ;  with  allusions  to  the  Life  and  Death 
"of  Andrew  Jackson,  Jolj,  1845 319 


A  Flea  fos  Stttdt;  Oration  before  the  Literary  Societies  of 
Yale  College,  1845 343 


|Thb  Claims  op  oub  Country  upon  its  Litbrart  Men; 
^"Oration  before  the  Phi  Beta  Kappa  Society  of  Harvard  Univer- 
sity, 1849 381 


GENIUS. 

AN    ADDEESS 

DELIVERED   BEFORE   THE 

LITERARY  SOCIETIES  OF  UNION  COLLEGE, 

SCHENECTADY,  N.  Y. 

JULY,  1837. 

PUBLISHED  AT  THEIR  REQUEST. 


ADDRESS. 


GENTLEMEN, 

"  Hsec  olim  meminisse  juvabit !"  was  the  motto  of  my  class 
on  the  day  we  left  the  shades  of  Academic  life  for  the  ruder 
world.  How  twe  the  prophecy  has  been,  those  weU  know, 
who  look  back,  after  a  lapse  of  years,  upon  such  peaceful 
scenes.  The  remembrance  is  sweet  and  sad,  as  the  exile's  in 
a  sultry  land  of  the  springs  which  slaked  his  youthful  thirst, 
but  whose  freshness  he  may  never  taste  again.  Indeed,  but 
for  the  sympathy  which  such  associations  inspire,  I  should  not 
have  dared  to  address  you  with  the  brief  preparation,  which 
a  recent  return,  after  a  long  absence  from  many  pressing  du- 
ties, has  permitted  me  to  make.  I  rely  upon  a  correspondent 
good  feeling  for  your  kind  acceptance  of  my  efforts  to  serve 
you. 

"  Nearly  one  hundred  of  us,"  says  the  letter  of  your  com- 
mittee, "  are  about  to  bid  a  final  farewell  to  our  beloved  Alma 
Mater,  and  hope  to  listen  to  your  friendly  appeals  and  kind 
admonitions."  This  intimation  leaves  me  in  no  doubt  as  to 
what  portion  of  the  present  audience  I  am  expected  to  ad- 
dress, or  the  character  of  the  theme  I  should  pursue ;  and, 
although  arrived  at  that  period  of  life  when  I  can  claim  nei- 


4  GENIUS. 

ther  the  apology  of  youth  nor  the  dignity  of  age,  I  may  at 
least  assure  you  of  an  honest  desire  to  fulfil  your  wishes. 

The  subject  I  have  chosen  is  one  fascinating,  perhaps  above 
all  others,  to  the  youthful  student,  who  burns  to  prove  his  in- 
tellectual armor  in  the  melee  of  the  world,  and  yet  one,  about 
which  many  and  fatal  errors  are  often  entertained. 

IT   IS    GENIUS. 

We  have  all  felt  the  power  of  Genius.  Our  privilege,  as 
students,  has  been  to  follow  her  flashing  torch  along  many  a 
path  to  knowledge ;  to  hear  the  strange  music  of  her  angel 
voice  amidst  scenes  of  beauty,  which  only  h%r  enchantments 
could  create ;  and  to  admire,  almost  idolatrously,  the  monu- 
ments she  has  erected  in  all  ages,  the  beacon  towers  of  the 
soul, 

"  And  but  for  which,  the  past  would  be 
A  desert  bare,  a  shipless  sea." 

Yet,  familiar  as  the  effects  of  Genius  are,  it  is  not  easy  to 
define  what  Genius  is.  The  etymology  of  the  term  will,  how- 
ever, assist  us. 

It  is  derived  from  the  verb,  signifying  to  engender  or  create, 
because  it  has  the  quality  of  originating  new  combinations  of 
thought,  and  of  presenting  them  with  great  clearness  and  force. 
Originality  of  conception,  and  energy  of  expression,  are  es- 
sential to  Genius.  Thus  Shakspeare  describes  poetic  Ge- 
nius: 

"  The  poet's  eye,  in  a  fine  phrenzy  rolling, 
Doth  glance  from  heaven  to  earth,  from  earth  to  heaven  — 


GENIUS.  5 

And  as  imagination  lodies  forth 
The  forms  of  things  unknown,  the  poet's  pen 
Turns  them  to  shape,  and  gives  to  airy  nothing 
A  local  habitation  and  a  name." 

Genius  is  not  a  distinct  faculty  of  the  mind,  but  a  union  of 
many.  It  is  a  beauty  and  vigor  of  the  whole  soul.  To  con- 
stitute it,  there  must  be  imagination  to  assemble  our  ideas, 
and  judgment  to  discriminate ;  quickness  in  perceiving,  and 
perseverance  in  acquiring  them ;  memory  to  retain,  and  good 
taste  to  select  the  beautiful  and  harmonious.  These  qualities 
may  be  combined  in  different  proportions  in  different  persons 
possessed  of  genius,  but  the  nearer  the  approach  to  perfection 
in  them  all,  the  more  perfect  will  Genius  be. 

Mere  imagination,  however  lively,  is  not  Genius,  although 
essential  to  it,  for  it  may  produce  the  most  absurd  combina- 
tions. There  must  be  judgment  and  good  taste  to  secure  pro- 
priety and  consistency.  Such  fictions,  as  centaurs  and  mer- 
maids, can  never  give  pleasure,  because  there  is  no  congruity 
between  the  head  of  a  man  and  the  body  of  a  horse,  or  the 
body  of  a  beautiful  woman  and  the  tail  of  a  fish.  They  are, 
as  Horace  tells  us,  "  hke  the  vain  vagaries  of  a  sick  man's 
dream."     But  how  exquisite  the  Titania  of  Shakspeare ; 

"  Lulled  in  the  flowers  with  dances  and  delight !" 

and  how  grand  the  Satan  of  Milton ; 

"  Prone  on  the  flood,  extended  long  and  large, 
And  floating  many  a  rood !" 

because,  though  equally  creatures  of  the  imagination,  every 
1* 


t)  GENIUS. 

part  of  the  description  is  consistent,  and  assists  in  bodying  forth 
the  idea  of  the  authors.  It  is  the  admirable  judgment  pre- 
siding over  the  vast  imagination  of  Homer,  which,  more  than 
that  imagination  itself,  has  made  the  earliest  of  uninspired 
poets  the  standard  of  his  art;  while  the  conceits  of  Shak- 
speare,  so  far  from  being  justified  by  his  mighty  genius,  are 
universally  considered  its  lamentable  blemishes. 

It  is  equally  clear,  that  as  all  our  ideas  are  derived,  this 
power  of  combining  them,  where  it  is  possessed,  must  bear  a 
certain  proportion  to  the  power  and  exercise  of  perception 
and  memory.  The  Scotch  youth,  of  whom  Dugald  Stewart 
writes,  who  had  neither  sight  nor  hearing,  may  have  had  it, 
but  it  necessarily  remained  latent ;  and  no  one  can  estimate 
the  range  which  would  be  added  to  the  now  astonishing  ge- 
nius of  Nack,  the  deaf  and  dumb  poet,  if  the  sense  of  hearing 
were  bestowed  upon  him. 

Genius  can  never  be  acquired,  but  it  may  be  cultivated 
without  limit.  This  the  ancients  beautifully  expressed,  in 
the  allegory  which  made  the  Muses  daughters  of  Jupiter  and 
Memory.  The  gift  is  divine,  but  worse  than  valueless,  with- 
out abihty  and  pains,  on  the  part  of  its  possessor,  to  provide 
the  ideas  with  which  to  form  its  combinations.  The  sacred 
flame  has  gone  out  in  the  mind  of  many  an  one  too  indolent, 
or  unable,  from  various  causes,  to  supply  the  necessary  oil. 

"  O  munera  nondum 
Intellecta  Deum !"  —  Lucan. 

Genius  varies  in  its  tendencies  from  the  various  structure 
of  the  human  mind.    There  is  a  Genius  for  science,  and  a 


GENIUS.  7 

Genius  for  the  arts.  The  term,  also,  is  often  used  in  a  lower 
sense,  to  indicate  the  peculiar  adaptedness  of  an  individual 
for  a  certain  pursuit,  such  as  a  Genius  for  mathematics,  for 
mechanics,  for  music.  It  will,  however,  be  readily  perceived, 
that  the  limits  of  the  present  address  forbid  my  entering  into 
nice  distinctions.  I  shall,  therefore,  speak  of  Genius  in  its 
large  sense,  freely  deriving  my  illustrations  from  any  of  its 
developments,  and  submit  only  such  considerations  as  may  be 
useful  to  those,  generally,  whom  I  have  the  honor  to  address. 

In  pursuing  this  design  I  will  speak,  — 

Of  the  proper  aims  of  Genius ; 

Of  its  cultivation ; 

Of  some  mistakes  concerning  it ; 

And  of  the  peculiar  advantages  enjoyed  in  this  country  for 
its  exercise. 

Genius  is  one  of  God's  mightiest  works.  There  is  nothing 
in  man,  which  has  such  power  for  good  or  evil.  Neither 
time  nor  space  can  limit  its  influences.  Wherever  it  is  be- 
stowed, it  is  a  sacred  deposit,  of  which  a  severe  account  will 
be  required ;  and,  like  all  God's  other  gifts,  should  be  employ- 
ed in  the  advancement  of  his  honor,  and  the  good  of  mankind. 
It  is  the  use,  not  the  possession  of  Genius,  which  ennobles. 
To  do  good,  is  the  highest  distinction  to  which  man  can  as- 
pire, for  it  is  most  like  God,  and  to  do  good,  is  the  highest  aim, 
the  only  proper  end  of  Genius.  This  is  not  a  sentiment  pecu- 
liar to  the  disciple  of  that  divine  Ensample  of  human  excel- 
lence, who  "  came  not  to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to  minister ;" 
it  is  also  that  of  Tully,  the  best  of  heathen  moralists :  "  Nihil 
utile,  quod  idem  non  sit  honestum,  nihil  honestum  quod  idem 


8  GENIUS. 

non  sit  utile  —  et  nullam  pestem  majorem  in  vitam  hominum 
invassisse,  quam  eorum  opinionem  qui  ista  distraxerint." 

Grenius  is,  therefore,  not  to  be  wasted  on  the  mere  personal 
enjoyment  of  its  possessor.  He  is  not  idly  to  follow  the  ec- 
centric impulses  of  imagination,  because  he  loves  to  wander 
in  a  maze  of  luxurious  thought,  to  dream  delicious  pleasure  in 
the  sunshine,  or  listen  entranced  to  the  voice  of  nature,  "  tell- 
ing of  things  which  no  gross  ear  can  hear."  This  were  to 
abuse  the  gift,  to  bury  a  treasure  which  might  have  enriched 
a  world,  and  to  obscure  a  light  which  should  have  led  to  hea- 
ven from  whence  it  came.  The  birds  sing  out  their  thankful- 
ness, the  flowers  shed  forth  their  incense,  the  stream  murmurs 
praise,  there  is  a  whisper  of  God's  love  in  the  breeze,  and  the 
leaves  it  plays  among  are  tremulous  with  joy ;  and  to  be  si- 
lent amongst  them  all,  to  have  the  soul  filled  with  beauty  and 
delight,  yet  keep  it  locked  hke  a  miser's  chest,  is  to  be  un- 
grateful to  God,  and  unfaithful  to  man. 

He  is  scarcely  less  guilty,  who  employs  his  genius  only  to 
acquire  personal  fame.  A  love  of  reputation  may  mingle 
properly  with  other  and  higher  motives,  but  alone  is  unwor- 
thy of  the  man  of  Genius.  God  has  exalted  him  above  the 
common  herd,  to  instruct,  to  enlighten,  and  to  bless  them. 
But  he,  who  would  win  their  applause,  must  ordinarily  stoop 
to  pay  its  price  in  his  own  degradation.  Popular  applause 
has  been  bitterly  described  to  be,  "  stultorum  et  improborum 
consensu  excitata."*  The  ready  way,  for  Genius  to  please 
them,  is  to  decorate  their  follies,  flatter  their  prejudices,  gild 
their  vices,  and  pander  to  their  lust.     Lucifer,  the  son  of  the 

*  Cic.  Tus.  Quses.  v. 


GENIUS.  9 

morning,  fallen  from  an  archangel  to  a  fiend,  is  not  a  more 
awful  spectacle  than  Genius  thus  prostituted.  And  yet  how 
often  are  we  called  to  behold  it  ?  Into  what  sties  of  profli- 
gacy, have  many  of  these  prodigal  sons  of  God  wandered,  to 
lavish  their  birthright  upon  the  vile  ?  In  what  kennels  of  im- 
purity do  some  of  their  rarest  gems  He  hidden  ?  Modesty 
abandons  the  search,  and  virtue  weeps  to  remember,  that 

"  Ev'n  the  light  which  led  astray, 
"Was  light  from  heaven." 

Whatever  false  hopes  may  promise,  self-reproach  wiU,  soon- 
er or  later,  embitter  such  a  triumph.  The  world  cannot  make 
up  for  the  loss  of  a  happy  conscience.  A  sense  of  suicidal 
guilt  is  the  sure  and  severe  avenger,  that  pursues  from  God 
the  despiser  of  his  richest  gifts.  The  most  abandoned  must 
acknowledge,  in  the  bitterness  of  his  inmost  soul,  the  comeli- 
ness of  the  virtue  he  has  cast  away.  Happy  was  his  death- 
bed, who  could  say,  "  he  had  never  written  a  line  which  he 
then  wished  to  blot ;"  but  horrible  must  be  the  last  hours  of 
him,  who  is  dragged  to  the  judgment  seat  by  the  accusing 
spirits  of  thousands,  seduced  from  purity  and  encouraged  in 
vice,  by  the  fatal  and  fascinating  influence  of  his  perverted 
Genius.  The  only  fame,  worth  possessing,  is  the  good  opin- 
ion of  the  good  and  wise.  Upon  this  alone  we  can  honestly 
congratulate  ourselves,  and  it  can  be  gained  only  by  the  con- 
secration of  our  powers  to  the  public  good.  Even  the  multi- 
tude, that  now  reject  their  faithfullest  servants,  will  in  after 
years  unite  to  honor  the  memory  of  an  Aristides  banished  for 
his  integrity,  and  believe  it  more  honorable,  to  have  been  once 


10  GENIUS. 

a  consul  like  Lselius,  than  to  have  been  elected  four  times  like 
Cinna. 

It  is,  indeed,  wrong  to  condemn  every  effort  of  Genius  not 
severely  didactic  or  demonstrative  of  truth.     There  is  sound- 
ness in  the  remark  of  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  that  "  if  certain 
sectaries,"  (whose  virtues  we  must  honor,  while  we  differ  from 
their  peculiarities,)  "  were  right,  God  would  have  clothed  the 
world  in  drab ;"  and  there  are  Quakers  in  morals,  who  are  as 
far  astray  from  the  example  of  their  great  Author.     The 
dweUing  place  of  primeval  innocence,  among  whose  holy 
shades  God  walked  with  his  sinless  children,  was  a  garden ; 
and  still  He  loves  to  scatter  flowers  about  our  path,  and  gives 
us  taste  to  relish  the  beauty  of  his  works.     So,  there  is  a  use 
and  a  sanction  for  the  flowers  of  Genius.     Yet  surely  it  should 
not  be  the  occupation  of  a  life  to  weave  garlands,  or  to  sing 
the  summer  time  away  like  the  grasshopper.     The  bee  sings 
too  as  he  gathers  his  stores,  and  there  should  be  honey,  the 
honey  of  truth,  in  our  flowers,  if  we  would  have  them  like  the 
flowers  of  God.     The  acanthus  of  the  Corinthian  capital  adds 
no  strength  to  the  column,  yet  who  would  say  the  sculptor's 
skill  was  wasted  upon  it,  or  wish  to  tear  away  the  graceful 
ornament  ?     Notwithstanding,  it  is  the  stability  of  the  fabric 
which  gives  perpetuity  to  the  decoration.     To  mingle  the  use- 
ful with  the  beautiful,  is  the  highest  style  of  art.     The  one 
adds  grace,  the  other  value.     It  would  be  a  poor  summing  up 
of  a  life  upon  earth,  to  find  that  all  the  powers  of  an  immortal 
intellect  had  been  devoted  to  the  amusement  of  idle  hours,  or 
the  excitement  of  empty  mirth,  or  even  the  mere  gi'atification 
of  taste,  without  a  single  effort  to  make  men  wiser  and  better 


GENIUS.  11 

and  happier.  If  the  examination  be  made,  it  will  be  found, 
that  those  works  of  Genius  are  the  most  appreciated,  which 
are  the  most  pregnant  with  truth,  which  give  us  the  best  illus- 
trations of  nature,  the  best  pictures  of  the  human  heart,  the 
best  maxims  of  life,  in  a  word,  which  are  the  most  useful.  I 
speak  not  now  of  what  men  pretend  to  admire.  There  are 
names  of  men  of  Genius,  which  are  in  everybody's  mouth, 
and  ring  out  in  every  schoolboy's  harangue,  whose  works  no 
one,  but  the  all-devouring  student,  ever  reads  ;  but  what  are 
the  quotations  most  in  use,  the  volumes  most  handled  ?  Are 
they  not  those  of  the  character  we  have  described  ?  The  one 
class  are  like  the  medals  stamped  for  a  passing  occasion,  ad- 
mired for  their  beauty,  and  then  buried  in  the  cabinet  of  the 
virtuoso  ;  the  others,  like  the  current  coin  which  passes  from 
hand  to  hand  at  a  ready  value  in  the  interchange  of  life  ;  and 
yet,  there  is  no  reason,  why  the  die  of  the  coin  should  not  be 
beautiful  in  design,  although  the  bullion  must  be  sterling  to 
give  it  worth. 

The  aim  of  Genius  should  be  correspondent  with  its  pecu- 
liar character.  The  Creator  has  wisely  given  a  variety  of 
talent  to  accomplish  his  various  purposes.  Every  man  has 
his  particular  mental  characteristics.  Men  are  not  born  with 
the  same  minds  any  more  than  the  same  features.  They  are 
fitted  for  various  pursuits,  and  to  force  one's  genius  from  its 
natural  bent,  is  to  undergo  a  painful  labor  with  the  certainty 
of  loss.  So,  to  attempt  excellence  in  everything  is  to  fail  in 
all.  The  world  has  seen  but  one  Michael  Angelo ;  and  we 
know  now  nothing  of  the  admirable  Crichton  except  that  he 
was  a  universal  Genius,  who  accomplished  nothing  that  sur- 


12  GENIUS. 

vived  Mm.  Our  aim  should  be  chosen  after  a  careful  exam- 
ination of  our  capabilities,  and  then  steadily  pursued.  Many 
a  man  of  Genius  has  died  without  success,  because  contin- 
ually changing  his  course  as  every  bright  meteor  shot  athwart 
it.  But  never  should  that  aim  be  other  than  one  of  useful- 
ness. No  man  is  destitute  of  capacity  for  that,  and  none 
other  is  worthy  of  any  man.  To  this,  indeed,  we  should  com- 
pel ourselves.     The  world  may  say : 

"  How  sweet  an  Ovid  was  in  Murray  lost !" 

But  whenever  it  is  more  useful  to  mankind  to  be  a  Murray 
than  an  Ovid,  we  should  not  scruple  to  make  the  exchange. 
Generations  of  happy  people  will  bless  the  name  of  the  fear- 
less expositor  of  right,  while  virtue  sickens  at  the  lascivious 
flow  of  numbers,  more  dangerous  because  sweet. 

The  aim  of  Genius  should  like  its  own  nature  be  lofty ; 
truly  lofty,  above  meanness,  and  selfishness,  and  indolence, 
venturing  aU  for  the  accomplishment  of  great  results  in  the 
achievement  of  real  good.  It  is  sufficient  to  determine  the 
worthlessness  of  a  thing,  to  know  that  it  may  be  easily  gained 
and  without  a  sacrifice. 

"  Before  heaven's  gate  High  God  did  sweat  ordain." — Spenser. 

The  very  consciousness  of  a  high  destiny  gives  us  an  in- 
domitable courage ;  the  contemplation  of  great  aims  expands 
the  soul ;  the  prospect  of  difficulty  rallies  all  our  powers ;  the 
slowness  of  great  results  keeps  them  in  continual  exercise ; 
and  only  that,  which  elevates  us  above  the  ordinary  world, 
requires  aU  our  powers  in  all  their  energy  while  life  lasts,  is 


GENIUS.  13 

worthy  the  pursuit  of  immortal  mind.  Nor  is  this  inconsistent 
with  real  modesty.  Timidity  and  indolence  are  feebleness 
not  modesty.  No  one  doubts  the  modesty,  any  more  than  the 
magnanimity,  of  Howard ;  and  Jesus  himself  was  meek  and 
lowly  in  heart,  while  filled  with  the  purpose  of  a  world's  re- 
demption. Quaint  George  Herbert  speaks  for  us  here  direct- 
ly to  the  point : 

"  Pitch  thy  behavior  low ;  thy  projects  high ; 
So  shalt  thou  humble  and  magnanimous  be. 
Sink  not  in  spirit ;  who  aimeth  at  the  sky, 
Shoots  higher  much  than  he  that  means  a  tree. 
A  grain  of  glory  mixed  with  humbleness, 
Cures  both  the  fever  and  lethargickness." 

Great  usefulness  to  mankind,  pursued  steadily  and  energet- 
ically, though  at  the  sacrifice  of  ease  and  temporary  fame,  in 
that  way  best  adapted  to  our  peculiar  powers,  and  with  a  con- 
stant sense  of  our  accountability,  is  the  true  and  only  proper 
aim  of  Genius. 

The  cultivation  of  Genius  is  the  next  branch  of  our 
subject. 

Genius  being  composed  of,  or,  if  you  please,  dependent  upon 
various  powers  of  the  mind,  it  follows,  that  the  cultivation  of 
those  powers  is  the  cultivation  of  Genius.  To  treat  of  them 
separately,  would  be,  at  this  time,  impracticable.  I  shall, 
therefore,  confine  myself  to  a  few  general  remarks. 

Every  addition  to  the  number  of  ideas  which  we  possess, 
adds  to  the  resources  of  Gfenius.  Zeal  in  the  best  methods 
of  enlarging  our  knowledge,  is  thus  essential  to  success.  Such 
industry  may  be  profitably  practised  by  every  one  who  has 

2 


14  GENTCS. 

the  use  of  his  senses,  and  reason  to  direct  them.  It  is  not 
only  from  books  that  we  may  learn.  Nature  is  one  vast 
volume,  and  every  page,  written  by  its  Almighty  Author,  re- 
pays its  student  well.  Lockhart,  in  his  Life  of  Sir  "Walter 
Scott,  tells  us,  that  in  his  youth  he  attempted  to  acquire  skill 
with  the  pencil ;  and  it  is  to  the  habit  of  close  observation 
thus  acquired,  he  supposes,  we  are  indebted  for  the  graphic 
fidelity  of  his  written  descriptions.  There  may  be  some  truth 
in  the  supposition,  but  it  is  unnecessary.  Close  observation 
seems  to  be  one  of  the  strongest  characteristics  of  Genius. 
The  most  careful  inquirer  into  natural  history  is  often  as- 
tonished to  find,  that  an  author  of  Genius,  making  no  preten- 
sions to  science,  has  been  before  him  in  discovery ;  and  the 
physiologist  quotes  the  great  master  of  the  human  heart  in 
proof  of  the  phenomena,  for  which  he  endeavors  to  account. 
Byron,  in  one  of  his  letters,  confesses  that  he  was  detected  in 
an  error,  as  to  the  habits  of  the  eagle,  by  a  painter,  who  illus- 
trated the  passage ;  but  he  does  so,  with  a  degree  of  shame 
that  proves  how  great  a  defect  he  considered  such  inaccuracy 
to  be.  This  truth  to  nature  is  one  of  the  great  charms  of 
Genius  over  us.  We  recognize  the  power  of  the  delineation 
without  knowing,  perhaps,  how  it  is  produced.  There  hangs 
in  the  cabinet  of  Baroccio,  at  Florence,  a  Madonna  in  grief, 
by  Sassoferrato.  There  are  no  tears,  there  is  no  distortion  of 
the  countenance,  nor  any  of  the  ordinary  signs  of  grief  by 
which  it  is  usually  presented  to  us  ;  yet  nothing  can  exceed 
the  touching  expression  of  the  mild  blue  eye  and  pale  un- 
wrinkled  brow.  Her  soul,  pierced  through  with  many  sor- 
rows, seems  to  look  out  and  ask  you  for  sympathy  with  a  grief 


GENIUS.  15 

too  deep  for  tears.  The  effect  is  doubtless  produced  by  those 
minute  lines,  which  escape  the  eye  of  the  ordinary  observer, 
and  which  none  but  a  master's  hand  could  transfer  to  the  can- 
vas. For  the  same  reason,  every  attempt  to  copy  the  Bea- 
trice di  Cenci  of  Guido,  or  the  Venus  de  Medicis,  has  failed. 
No  hand  can  follow  the  great  master  in  the  one,  and  the  deli- 
cacy of  the  lines  is  lost  in  the  casts  of  the  other.  We  see 
this  effect  in  a  good  portrait  of  one  we  know  and  love.  It  is 
not  in  the  mere  shape  of  the  features,  or  the  general  contour, 
that  the  resemblance  lies,  but  in  the  scarcely  distinguishable 
lines  which  mark  the  characters ;  and  precisely  as  we  are 
familiar  with  the  individual,  are  we  difficult  to  satisfy.  This 
is  true  of  Genius  in  all  its  forms.  It  is  upon  nice  accuracy  of 
observation,  that  the  orator,  the  poet,  the  metaphysician  and 
the  natural  philosopher  depend  for  success.  Their  attention 
is  so  fixed  and  their  perception  so  keen,  that  nothing  escapes 
them ;  whether,  from  their  peculiar  tastes,  that  attention  be 
directed  to  the  weighing  of  evidence,  the  beauty  of  a  land- 
scape, the  workings  of  human  passion,  the  actings  of  their 
own  minds,  or  the  facts  which  are  brought  to  light  by  their 
experiments.  If  we  read  a  speech  of  Erskine,  we  wiU  see 
how  he  brings  into  his  argument,  as  it  were,  rivulet  after 
rivulet,  small  in  themselves,  but  all  contributing  to  swell  the 
mighty  river  of  proof,  which  bursts  upon  us  in  the  cataract  of 
his  conclusion.  If  we  study  an  essay  of  the  unpretending  but 
matchless  metaphysician  Reid,  we  find  him  laying  open  to  our 
view  the  workings  of  our  own  minds,  and  making  our  con- 
sciousness bear  witness  to  his  truth.  The  chords  of  our 
hearts  vibrate  in  unison  with  those  that  are  touched  by  tlie 


16  GENIUS. 

Ploughman  of  Ayr.  Newton  would  never  have  discov- 
ered the  law  of  gravitation,  that  first  step  of  his  walk  with 
the  God  of  nature,  but  for  the  closeness  of  that  observation, 
which  permitted  not  an  acorn  to  fall  from  the  bough,  without 
remarking  the  force  of  its  descent.  "  There  are  some  men 
who  will  walk  from  Dan  to  Beersheba,  and  complain  that 
they  have  seen  nothing ;"  but  they  are  not  men  of  Genius, 
and  can  never  be  men  of  sense.  He,  who  would  be  rich  in 
knowledge  and  original  thought,  will  not  allow  a  dew-drop  to 
glisten  in  the  morning  sun,  or  a  flower  to  bloom  in  the 
meadow,  much  less  the  more  mysterious  phenomena  of  nature 
within  and  without  him  to  occur,  and  not  acquire  truth  by 
severe  yet  delightful  scrutiny. 

I  have  surely  no  need,  in  addressing  you,  to  insist  upon  the 
necessity  of  study,  in  the  strictest  sense  of  the  term  study. 
The  complaint  of  Dr.  Johnson  is  more  true  of  the  present  day 
than  it  was  of  his  own :  "  that  the  mental  disease  of  this  gen- 
eration is  impatience  of  study,  and  contempt  of  the  great 
masters  of  ancient  wisdom."  It  may  be  hoped  that  the  atmos- 
phere, which  you  breathe  on  these  heights,  was  too  pure  for 
the  epidemic  to  have  reached  you.  This  is,  however,  the  age 
of  digests,  and  compends,  and  abridgments,  and  many  a  pigmy 
upon  the  shoulders  of  the  giant  past  exults  in  his  elevation, 
as  if  he  were  more  than  a  giant,  and  not  a  pigmy  still.  But 
you,  my  well  educated  friends,  will  agree  with  me,  that, 
though  we  may  increase  the  rapidity  with  which  our  bodies 
are  carried  along,  there  is  no  steam  power  to  assist  the  mind. 
Talk  as  we  please  about  "  the  march  of  mind,"  and  "  the 
schoolmaster  being  abroad,"  it  requires  but  little  observation 


GENIUS.  17 

to  see,  that  what  we  are,  is  owing  to  what  our  mighty  fathers 
have  been.  The  authors  of  the  present  day,  with  here  and 
there  an  exception,  are  doing  little  more  than  spinning  atten- 
uated thread  from  the  material  of  ancient  lore,  or  vieing  to 
see  how  thin  they  can  beat  a  tiny  fragment  of  pure  bullion,  to 
cover  their  works  with  tawdry  tinsel.  Is  it  not  refreshing  to 
leave  these  babbling  shallow  brooks,  which  glare  out  into  the 
sunshine  that  must  soon  evaporate  them,  and  seek  in  the  cool 
deep  shades  of  former  wisdom, 

"  Sanctos  —  recludere  fontes  1" 

"  To  be  ignorant  of  the  past  is  to  be  always  a  child,"  says 
Cicero.     All  the  researches,  the  discoveries,  the  refutations, 
the  memorials,  the  very  mistakes  of  the  past,  can  only  be 
available  to  us  by  study.    Without  it,  we  may  waste  our  pow- 
ers and  time  in  pursuing  exploded  errors ;  wander,  lost  in 
perplexity,  close  to  well  defined  paths,  and  congratulate  our- 
selves upon  an  originality,  as  thread-bare  as  the  cloak  of  Di- 
ogenes.    We  cannot  know  what  remains  to  be  done,  or  to  be 
learned,  unless  we  know  what  has  been  done  and  learned  al- 
ready ;  and  how  can  we  know  this  without  research  ?     By 
ancient  learning,  is  not  meant  only  the  writings  of  those  who 
are  commonly  called   the  ancients.      There  are   mines  of 
thought  in  the  older  writers  of  our  own  language.    One  page 
of  some  of  them  will  repay  our  perusal  with  more  sterling 
truth,  than  the  teeming  productions  of  the  modem  press  for 
a  whole  year.    With  very  rare  exceptions,  (and  those  who 
are  popular  among  the  good  thinkers  of  the  day  are  rarer 
still)  there  is  scarcely  a  living  author,  whom  it  is  not  lost  time 

2* 


18  GENIUS. 

to  study,  while  we  permit  the  dust  to  gather  upon  the  homely 
covers  of  our  father's  books. 

Besides  the  mere  acquisition  of  ideas,  this  study  is  neces- 
sary to  ripen  our  judgment  and  correct  our  taste.  Not  that 
we  should  study  for  the  sake  of  imitating  them,  or  even  of 
borrowing  from  them.  "  No  man  ever  became  great  by  imi- 
tation," said  the  great  English  critic.  The  mere  imitator  never 
acquires  more  than  the  faults  of  his  model ;  and  he,  who  decks 
himself  in  borrowed  feathers,  will  be  only  the  more  ridicu- 
lous when  his  deceptions  are  discovered.  We  are  to  study 
the  standard  authors,  that  we  may  learn  the  rules  of  art  by 
careful  analysis,  and  store  away  ideas  for  future  combinations. 
As  one  acquires  the  air  and  manners  of  a  gentleman  by  be- 
ing conversant  with  good  society,  though  he  may  make  no 
man  his  model,  so,  by  being  conversant  with  good  authors,  we 
come  insensibly  to  partake  of  their  spirit  and  refinement. 
Thus,  there  have  been  some  very  few  poets,  who,  by  the  mere 
force  of  Genius,  have  risen  to  great  eminence,  though  de- 
prived of  literary  advantages ;  but  those  who  have  enjoyed 
them,  however  great  their  natural  powers  might  be,  delight 
to  speak  with  gratitude  of  the  privilege.  Horace  did  not 
blush  to  admit,  that  he  studied  the  Greek  Poets  night  and  day, 
and  recommends  the  same  course  to  all ;  while  Cicero  tells 
us,  that  the  Attic  orators  were  his  masters ;  yet  who  doubts 
the  original  Genius  of  either  ?  It  is  pleasing  to  observe  the 
influence  of  classic  study  upon  the  minds  of  our  purest  wri- 
ters. Not  unfrequently,  the  ideas  of  their  favorites  become 
so  incorporated  with  their  own,  that  they  know  them  not  to 
be  otherwise  than  original,  and  give  them  forth  to  us  in  all 


GENIUS.  19 

the  freshness  of  original  Genius.  Thus,  Milton  was  proba- 
bly not  aware  that  the  epithets  "  most  musical,  most  melan- 
choly," which  he  applys  to  the  nightingale,  are  almost  an  ex- 
act translation  of  the  Poet  of  Salamis,  whom  he  loved  so 
much: 

"  /xe?iu6bv  —  Saxpveaaav ."  —  Hecuba  ; 

and  Campbell  derived  the  main  idea  of  his  beautiful  couplet ; 

"  'Tis  distance  lends  enchantment  to  the  view, 
And  robes  the  mountain  in  its  azure  hue," 

from  the  same  author,  for  Euripides  is  a  favorite  of  his  too : 

"  Oh  ravTov  eidog  (paivErai  tuv  UpayjuuTuv 
Upoaw&Ev  ovTuv  eyyv'&ev  ■&'  opu/ievuv."  —  Ion. 

Yet,  surely,  no  one  would  accuse  either  of  plagiarism. 

Indeed,  such  is  the  pleasure  of  these  studies,  that  the  man 
who  has  the  opportunity  of  pursuing  them,  and  neglects  to  do 
so,  gives  sufficient  proof  that  he  is  destitute  of  that  taste  and 
judgment,  which  are  essential  qualities  of  Genius. 

It  may  be  added,  that  the  cultivation  of  the  power  ofmemo' 
ry  is  very  necessary,  in  order  that  we  may  retain  the  ideas 
we  have  thus  acquired  with  so  much  pains.  There  are  few, 
who  do  not  complain  of  their  deficiency  in  this,  when,  perhaps, 
they  would  be  seriously  offended  at  the  charge  of  deficiency 
in  any  other  power  of  the  mind.  Yet  we  cannot  see  why  a 
man  is  less  culpable  for  not  improving  his  memory,  than  for  the 
neglect  of  judgment.  Certainly,  like  every  other  power  of 
the  mind,  memory  may  be  improved.  Stewart  has  treated 
this  subject  with  so  much  ability,  that  a  reference  to  his  chap- 


jSU  genius. 

ters  is  tie  best  suggestion  one  can  make.     The  great  secrets 
of  a  retentive  memory  are  attention  and  order.    The  mind 
can  be  occupied  only  about  one  idea  at  the  same  time.     "We 
must,  therefore,  learn  one  thing  at  a  time,  having  the  mind 
bent  intently  upon  that  one  thing,  until  we  see  it  clearly  and 
understand  it  fuUy.     When  this  is  done  we  rarely  forget.     It 
is  indeed  questionable,  whether  an  idea  is  ever  forgotten.     We 
may  not  be  able  to  recall  it  at  the  moment  we  wish,  but  still  it 
lies  in  the  storehouse  of  the  mind,  and  rises  again  to  notice  at 
some  other  time  when  the  chain  of  association  is  regained. 
It  is  therefore  of  great  importance  to  preserve  this  associa- 
tion.    To  do  this,  it  is  necessary  that  there  be  order  in  our 
minds.    A  place  for  every  idea,  and  every  idea  in  its  place. 
This  order  can  only  be  the  result  of  severe  mental  discipline. 
We  frequently  remark  the  ease,  with  wliich  we  can  remem- 
ber a  discourse,  the  heads  of  which  are  clearly  defined,  and 
tiie  order  carefully  observed.     We  rarely  forget  our  knowl- 
edge of  a  science,  the  fundamental  principles  of  which  we 
have  thoroughly  studied  and  understood.     The  illustrations 
which  a  skilful  writer  employs  to  make  his  meaning  more  ob- 
vious, greatly  assists  our  recollection  of  the  main  idea.     We 
should,  therefore,  reject  all  that  quackery,  which  pretends  to 
assist  and  improve  the  memory,  otherwise  than  by  the  culti- 
Tation  of  the  mind  generally,  and  the  habit  of  close  attention 
in  particular.     It  may  well  be  doubted,  whether  even  the 
keeping  of  a  common-place   book,  except  for  references  to 
where  valuable  thoughts  may  be  found,  is  not  productive  of 
mOTe  evil  than  good.     We  learn  rather  to  rely  upon  the  as- 
sistant than  upon  ourselves,  and  the  time  spent  in  transcrib- 


GENIUS.  21 

ing  might  be  more  usefully  employed.  It  were  better  to  pause 
and  read  again  the  passage  that  has  interested  us,  and  ex- 
amine ourselves  strictly  as  to  our  understanding  of  it ;  or,  if 
the  pen  must  be  used,  use  it  in  noting  down  in  our  own  words 
an  accurate  analysis  of  the  whole.  What  is  really  useful  will 
thus  be  treasured  up,  what  is  worthless  had  better  be  win- 
nowed away.  There  are  some  people,  whose  memory  seems 
to  be  rather  a  misfortune  than  a  benefit,  from  continually  dis- 
tracting their  attention  by  the  crowd  of  irrelevant  ideas  it  sug- 
gests. There  are  others,  who  are  certainly  very  tiresome  to 
their  hearers  or  readers,  by  the  useless  particularity  with  which 
they  stretch  out  a  narrative  or  disquisition,  when  a  few  words 
would  suffice  to  state  all  that  is  important.  Hence  conciseness 
is  always  an  attribute  of  a  close  thinker ;  not  an  indication  of 
a  want  of  memory,  but  of  its  discreet  and  economical  use. 
"  Semper  instans  sibi,"  is  the  phrase,  by  which  Quintilian 
characterizes  the  pregnant  bi'evity  of  Thucydides. 

Genius  must  be  cultivated  hy  exercise.  The  mind  is  like 
the  body.  Nothing  impairs  its  strength  so  much  as  idleness, 
nothing  increases  it  so  much  as  well  directed  labor.  The 
muscles  of  the  blacksmith's  arm  swells  out  with  vigor,  when 
those  of  the  man  of  ease  are  scarcely  visible,  though  original- 
ly he  may  have  been  possessed  of  much  greater  natural 
strength  ;  and  we  are  in  the  same  way  often  surprised  to  see 
the  zealous,  earnest  student  leave  far  behind  him,  even  in  men- 
tal power,  the  idle  genius,  who  once  laughed  at  his  snail-like 
progress.  To  be  successful,  we  should  never  be  idle.  Not 
content  with  mere  reading,  or  aimless  reveries  and  imagina- 
tions, but  employing  the  knowledge  we  have  gained,  and  ap- 


22  GENIUS. 

plying  the  rules  we  have  learned  to  some  useful  end.  Not 
content  to  do  anything  superficially  or  carelessly,  but  contin- 
ually striving  to  avoid  defects  and  aspiring  after  new  excellen- 
cies. Not  content  with  any  degree  of  attainment  or  success, 
but  regarding  the  past  as  only  preparation  for  the  future.  No 
man  can  conceive  what  is  capable  of  accomplishing  by  an  ar- 
dent perseverance.  The  Roman  Legionary,  born  under  the 
most  luxurious  clime,  learned  by  exercise  to  bear  without  fa- 
tigue a  weight  of  armor  which  would  crush  the  strongest 
modem  to  the  earth,  and  to  contend  alike  successfully  with  the 
barbarian  of  the  north  amidst  his  icy  mountains,  and  the  agile 
rover  of  the  burning  desert.  The  intellectual  conqueror  need 
never  weep,  like  him  of  Macedon,  that  there  remains  no  more 
to  prove  his  prowess.  The  higher  he  ascends,  the  more  ar- 
duous appear  the  heights  yet  to  be  attained.  To  the  gene- 
rous spirit,  rest  is  itself  a  weariness.  The  young  man,  who 
covets  it,  or  even  procrastinates  his  efforts  until  he  has  attained 
more  strength,  will  make  a  feeble  and  useless  old  age.  The 
moment  we  repose,  we  abandon  success.     The  maxim  is  just, 

"  Dulce  est  desipere  in  loco ;" 

but  it  should  be  interpreted  with  caution,  especially  by  the 
young.  The  mind,  it  is  true,  cannot  sustain  without  occasion- 
al relief  severe  intellectual  exertion ;  but  even  our  amuse- 
ments may  be  made  profitable.  We  may  turn  from  the  sever- 
er volume  to  one  that  refines,  without  taxing,  the  wearied  fac- 
ulties. "We  may  wander  forth  and  enjoy  the  loveliness  of  na- 
ture, or  the  communion  of  friends,  without  laying  aside  the 
character  of  intellectual  being.     Even  a  change  of  study  is 


GENIUS.  2S 

sometimes  sufficient.  The  table  talk  of  Luther  has  been  con- 
sidered worthy  of  record,  and  Sir  Humphrey  Davy  mused 
not  unprofitably  with  his  fishing  rod  in  hand.  Away  then 
with  idleness  in  all  its  forms.  It  is  the  rust  of  the  soul,  which 
requires  more  labor  to  remove,  than  we  avoided  by  dissipa- 
tion, and  we  lose  time  besides. 

We  are  now  prepared  to  consider  —  Some  common  mis- 
takes  CONCERNING   GeNIUS. 

No  man  is  to  suppose  himself  destitvie  of  Genius,  because  its 
ejects  do  not  immediately  appear.  Genius,  in  its  higher 
forms,  belongs,  it  is  admitted,  to  few.  Some  men,  indeed, 
cannot  properly  be  said  to  possess  it  at  all.  Yet  there  is  not 
one  of  us  without  some  capacity  for  usefulness  ;  and  observa- 
tion would  lead  us  to  believe,  that  even  the  gifts  of  Genius 
have  not  been  bestowed  by  such  a  sparing  hand  as  is  com- 
monly believed.  The  fact,  that  in  certain  ages  many  men  of 
Genius  arise  to  high  distinction,  and  that  in  others  not  one 
appears,  seems  to  prove,  that  certain  stimulants  to  exertion 
have  been  wanting  in  the  last,  which  were  felt  in  the  former. 
Genius,  of  a  very  high  character,  needs  no  foreign  excite- 
ment. It  has  sufficient  impulsive  force  in  itself;  but  when 
the  plant  is  more  feeble,  it  needs  fostering  and  cai'e.  The 
success  of  one  great  mind  will  induce  others,  less  daring,  to 
follow  in  its  track.  The  assurance  of  sympathy,  which  is 
thus  given,  is  a  strong  encouragement  to  effort.  So,  rarely 
has  a  new  star  shone  out  in  the  firmament  of  mind,  but  many 
smaller  lights  have  twinkled  forth  to  form  a  constellation. 
Precocity  of  talent  is  not  necessarily  Genius.  It  is  sometimes 
nothing  better  than  a  vice  of  the  mental  being  in  overshooting 


24  GENIUS. 

its  proper  growth,  and  prematurely  exhausting  its  powers. 
Not  a  few  instances  will  occur  to  you  of  men,  and  those,  too, 
the  most  distinguished,  who  have  passed  many  years  of  their 
lives,  before  they  became  conscious  of  their  powers,  or  the 
proper  method  of  directing  them.     "  The  Lay  of  the  Last 
Minstrel"  did  not  appear  until  its  author  had  attained  the 
meridian  of  life,  and  Waverly  not  till  many  years  after- 
wards.    It  is  true,  that  Scott  could  not  have  been  utterly  un- 
conscious of  his  genius,  even  in  early  manhood  ;  yet,  doubt- 
less, he  would  have  smiled  incredulously  at  one  who  would 
have  prognosticated  his  future  triumphs  ;  and  it  is  easy  to  see, 
that  but  for  the  preparation  of  his  youth,  those   triumphs 
would  never  have  been  his.     The  earlier  efforts  of  Byron 
were  really  beneath  criticism ;  but  the  severe  chastisement  he 
received,  only  stimulated  him  to  greater  exertions,  and  he 
lived  to  reach  the  height  of  fame.     No  success  can  be  ex- 
pected without  exertion,  and  no  one  knows  what  he  can  do, 
until  he  has  resolutely  and  perseveringly  applied  himself  to 
the  struggle.    Even  if  we  have  but  one  talent,  there  is  no 
reason  why  that  should  be  buried  in  the  earth.     The  praise 
of  success  is  greater,  where  the  natural  ability  is  small ;  and 
it  is  immeasurably  better  to  be  moderately  useful  than  inglori- 
ously  idle. 

There  is  another  error  yet  more  mischievous.  It  is  that  of 
supposing  Genius  sufficient  of  itself,  without  the  aid  of  study. 
It  is  the  fault  of  a  strong  imagination,  when  not  sufficiently 
regulated  by  judgment,  to  be  impatient  of  delay  or  control. 
Persons  thus  constituted,  dazzled  with  the  brilliancy  of  their 
conceptions,  despise  the  sobriety  of  rule.  Conscious  of  power, 
but  ignorant  of  difficulties,  they  determine  upon  rapid  achieve- 


GENIUS.  2^ 

ment,  and  unshared  victories.  The  melancholy  end  of  many 
a  Chatterton,  proves  how  bitter  is  their  disappointment.  The 
maniac's  cell,  or  the  wretched  garret,  has  hidden  from  the 
world  many  a  light,  which,  properly  trimmed  and  fed,  might 
have  burned  long  and  brightly.  Many  instances,  already 
quoted,  proved,  that  the  most  successful  men  of  Genius  have 
been  ordinarily  the  most  profound  students.  "We  ought  to  be 
more  surprised  at  the  amount  of  information  Shakspeare  was 
enabled  to  attain,  under  the  disadvantages  he  suffered,  than  at 
what  he  accomplished  with  the  information  he  had.  If  we 
knew  nothing  more  of  him,  than  that  he  was  the  author  of 
"  Julius  Csesar,"  we  would  say,  that  he  was  versed  beyond  a 
parallel  in  the  history  of  that  period.  No  one  could  have 
sketched,  with  more  striking  fidelity,  the  cunning  Anthony, 
the  impetuous  Brutus,  the  infatuated  Cassar,  or  the  versatile 
Roman  mob.  It  is  a  shame  to  abandon  the  cultivation  of  a 
soil,  because  it  is  rich.  The  luxuriance  of  its  natural  fertility, 
is  only  the  promise  of  what  it  might  yield  to  careful  hus- 
bandry. "We  are  accountable,  not  merely  for  the  ten  talents 
God  may  have  given,  but  for  the  increase  they  might  have 
made  at  proper  usury.  If  Sir  Isaac  Newton  compared  the 
labors  of  his  miraculous  life,  to  a  child  gathering  shells  on  the 
shore,  while  the  wide  ocean  of  truth  lay  undiscovered  before 
him,  can  any  among  us  be  justly  satisfied  with  less  attain- 
ment ?  Be  independent  of  study,  child  of  Genius,  if  you 
will,  but  rail  not  at  the  world,  for  despising  that  which  cost 
you  no  pains.  You  are  your  own  destroyer.  "Men  will 
praise  you  when  you  do  well  for  yourself." 

Much  sensibility  is  also  wasted  upon  the  false  supposition, 
3 


26  GENIUS. 

that  Genius  is  necessarily  unfortunate.  It  is  true,  that  the 
calamities  of  men  of  Genius  have  been  proverbial,  and  vol- 
umes have  been  filled  with  their  recital.  But  the  calamities 
of  men  of  Genius  are  not  necessarily  the  calamities  of  Ge- 
nius. Many  of  them,  with  the  same  faults  of  character,  would 
have  been  equally  sufferers,  had  they  possessed  no  Genius  at 
all.  It  was  their  Genius  which  gave  notoriety  to  their  suffer- 
ings. The  gifts  of  Providence  are  more  equally  distributed 
than  we  are  accustomed  to  believe,  and  great  intellectual  en- 
dowments are  not  often  accompanied  by  the  measure  of 
worldly  fortune,  which  falls  to  the  lot  of  those  whose  humbler 
faculties  aspire  not  above  the  pursuit  of  gain.  It  is  well  for 
the  world  it  is  so,  for  nothing  is  more  fatal  to  mental  ambition, 
than  luxurious  ease.  The  annals  of  Genius  should  convince 
us,  that  it  has  oftener  been  repressed  by  prosperity  than  ad- 
versity. Examples  of  men  born  to  wealth  and  rank,  who 
have  attained  high  intellectual  eminence,  are  as  rare,  as  the 
number  of  those  who  have  risen  from  obscurity  is  great. 
While  circumstances  seduce  the  one  class  to  indolence,  they 
compel  the  other  to  personal  exertion.  It  requires  great  ef- 
fort to  raise  one's  self  to  distinction,  unassisted  by  friends,  and 
embai-rassed  by  poverty. 

"  Haud  facile  emergunt,  quorum  vixtutibus  obstat 
Bes  angusta  domi." 

But  it  requii-es  greater  still,  to  leave  the  haunt  of  fashion- 
able pleasure,  and  the  circle  of  flattering  friends,  to  pursue, 
in  solitary  labor,  those  difficult  paths  which  alone  lead  to  use- 
ful renown.  Vice  is  always  its  own  avenger,  and  no  Genius 
can  exempt  the  transgressor  from  its  penalties.     Savage,  Ot- 


GENIUS.  27 

way,  Burns,  and  many  others,  owed  their  ruin  to  their  un- 
licensed follies,  not  to  their  Genius.  When  such  minds  leave 
their  high  pursuits  to  company  with  the  votaries  of  dissipa- 
tion, they  can  expect  no  better  fate.  If  we  consider  the 
miserable  venality  of  his  pen,  we  would  cease  to  think  the 
misfortunes  of  Chatterton  as  less  deserved  than  those  of  Dr. 
Dodd.  We  make  no  excuse  for  the  world,  which  is  too  apt 
to  neglect  the  children  of  Genius,  that  it  may  flatter  those  of 
power.  The  early  graves  of  Collins  and  Kirke  White,  are 
monuments  of  its  coldness  and  cruelty.  Yet  it  is  human  na- 
ture to  prefer  our  own  interests ;  and  not  unfrequently  the 
offerings  which  Genius  lays  at  its  feet,  are  merely  beautiful 
but  useless  garlands.  Even  the  plough  of  Burns  turned  down 
"  the  mountain  daisy,"  to  make  place  for  the  more  home- 
ly but  more  useful  grain.  Besides,  it  may  well  be  doubt- 
ed, whether  what  are  frequently  called  the  calamities  of  Ge- 
nius, are  indeed  calamities.  If  to  receive  the  applause  of 
the  vociferous  mob,  to  sit  in  the  parasite's  chair  at  the  table  of 
the  great,  to  place  the  name  of  some  wealthy  dunce  at  the 
head  of  a  dedication,  to  accumulate  mere  money  that  it  may 
be  spent  upon  self-indulgence,  or  to  struggle  successfully  with 
the  demagogue  and  the  gladiator  in  the  political  arena,  be  the 
chief  goods  of  life,  there  are  many  paths  to  their  attainment 
more  easy  and  certain  than  those  which  Genius  loves,  and 
ought  to  tread.  But  if  the  consciousness  of  lofty  thought, 
fellowship  with  the  mighty  spirits  of  the  past,  the  dignity  of 
noble  aims,  the  applause  of  the  few,  but  those  the  truly  great, 
the  admiration  of  posterity,  and  the  benediction  of  Him  who 
was  himself  "  despised  and  rejected  of  men,"  be  worth  all  the 


28  GENIUS. 

meaner  world  can  give  or  take  away,  then  lias  well-directed 
Genius  no  cause  to  complain.  Wlio  estimates  the  wealth  of 
Milton  by  the  five  pounds  he  received  for  Paradise  Lost  ? 
Who  would  not  rather  have  been  Galileo,  than  the  priestly 
bigots  that  murdered  him  ?  Even  if  it  be  admitted,  as  it 
should  be,  "  that  the  gifts  of  imagination  bring  the  heaviest 
task  on  the  vigilance  of  reason  ;"*  yet  there  is  the  greater 
reason  why  we  should  cultivate  the  judgment,  that  we  may  be 
preserved  from  those  irregularities  which  expose  the  man  of 
Genius  to  calamity,  and  not  abandon  its  elevated  pursuits, 
from  an  unworthy  dread  of  danger.  Whatever  may  have 
been  the  case  in  the  past,  true  Genius  was  never  more  ap- 
plauded, or  better  rewarded,  than  in  the  present  day.  Dis-* 
miss,  therefore,  these  mawkish  lamentations  over  the  unfor- 
tunate fate  of  Genius,  and  press  forward  to  share  its  immortal 
honors. 

Another  error  into  which  we  are  apt  to  fall,  is  that  Genius 
requires  peculiar  advantages  for  its  cultivation  and  develop- 
ment. Many  a  young  man  enters  upon  life  with  glowing 
hopes  of  intellectual  distinction  and  determination  never  to 
cease  his  efforts  ;  but,  finding  the  necessity  of  attending  closely 
to  the  business  of  life,  and  being  continually  harassed  and 
vexed  by  unavoidable  interruptions,  soon,  though  reluctantly, 
abandons  his  aspirations  as  idle  dreams  of  his  youth,  the  real- 
ity of  which  is  reserved  for  those  of  happier  circumstances. 
This  is  injustice  to  ourselves.  We  have  already  alluded  to 
the  many  who  have  risen  to  fame  from  the  midst  of  far 
greater  difficulties  than  can  possibly  surround  any  of  those 

*Langliorn's  Life  of  Collins. 


GENIUS.  29 

now  before  me.  If  ^sop  was  a  slave,  Ferguson  a  shepliercl's 
boy,  Franklin  a  friendless  apprentice,  Heyne  the  half-starved 
son  of  a  poor  weaver,  and  Adrian  YI.  once  so  poor  as  to 
study  only  by  the  lamps  of  the  streets,  when  the  daylight  had 
closed  upon  his  labor,  no  difficulties  can  be  so  great  but  a  de- 
termined industry  may  overcome  them.  Men  of  leisure  are 
rarely  great.  But  the  ingenious  Drew  produced  his  treatise 
upon  the  Immortality  of  the  Soul,  when  a  working  shoe- 
maker, and  that  clear  ethical  writer  of  our  day,  Abercrombie, 
is  a  physician  of  the  largest  practice  in  Edinburgh,  and  must 
turn  to  his  metaphysical  pursuits  after  the  most  fatiguing  ef- 
forts in  those  entirely  diflferent.  It  is  folly  to  speak  of  "  the 
past  being  the  age  of  thought  but  this  the  age  of  action,"  as  if 
the  two  were  incompatible.  I  have  yet  to  learn,  that  Calvin 
was  an  inactive  person,  though  I  may  look  at  his  nine  huge 
folios  filled  with  copious  thought  and  profound  criticism.  Lu- 
ther, too,  was  no  sluggard  in  action,  yet  his  volumes  are  far 
from  being  few  in  number,  or  deficient  in  research,  and  even 
in  music,  which  was  but  his  amusement,  you  may  find  the 
Greek  modes,  the  most  difficult  of  all.  Roscoe  found  time  in 
the  midst  of  commercial  engagements  for  his  lives  of  the  two 
Medici,  and  the  author  of  the  Pleasures  of  Memory  is  still  a 
banker.  The  age  of  action  not  the  age  of  thought !  It  is  a 
disgrace  and  not  our  glory.  It  is  the  excuse  of  indolence,  or 
the  boast  of  presumption. 

There  is  a  common  error,  which  supposes  Genius  to  he  ne- 
cessarily eccentric ;   but  eccentricity,  especially  when  it  be- 
comes ofiensive  to  decorum,  is  a  blemish  in  social  character 
no  powers  of  mind  can  excuse  or  palliate  ;  and  surely,  if  time 
3* 


30  GENIUS. 

permitted,  it  woidd  be  an  insult  to  those  who  have  listened 
to  me  so  kindly,  to  trouble  them  with  proof,  that  a  man  of 
Genius  may  be  a  gentleman,  or  that  a  disregard  for  the  com- 
fort or  feelings  of  others  is  any  proof  of  talent. 

I  wiU  therefore  pass  on  briefly  to  consider  the  last  branch 
of  the  subject  we  proposed,  The  peculiar  advantages 

FOR   the   exercise    OF    GeNIUS   IN    OUR    OWN    COUNTRY. 

Well  may  we  thank  God,  that  our  lot  is  cast  in  so  goodly 
a  land,  and  I  do  not  envy  that  man,  who  can  return  to  this 
his  native  land  from  wandering  abroad,  without  fresh  admira- 
tion of  the  principles  of  our  government  and  the  character  of 
our  people.  But  for  nothing  have  we  more  reason  to  be 
thankful  than  the  opportunities  wliich  Genius  has  here  to 
spread  her  unfettered  wing  for  her  noblest  flights.  I  speak 
not  now  of  the  physical  features  of  our  country,  the  majesty 
of  its  rivers,  the  graceful  outline  of  its  mountains,  the  thunder 
of  its  cataracts,  the  clear  crystal  of  its  thousand  lakes,  the 
depth  of  its  forest  shade,  the  gorgeous  richness  of  its  autumnal 
hues,  or  the  dreamy  voluptuousness  of  its  Indian  summer's 
days.  If  ever  nature  taught  inspiration.  Genius  may  find  it 
here. 

But  the  freedom  of  our  institutions  and  its  effect  upon  the 
powers  of  the  soul,  may  well  occupy  our  thoughts  for  a  mo- 
ment. The  land  of  hberty  is  the  land  of  Genius.  Slavery 
has  a  more  degrading  influence  upon  the  mind  than  the  body. 
Despotic  power  and  aristocratic  wealth  may  seek  to  pamper 
their  pride  by  the  patronage  of  men  of  talent,  but  the  natural 
efiFect  of  such  patronage  is  to  depress  rather  than  exalt.  The 
will  of  the  patron  must  be  consulted,  and  his  reward  secured 


GE^^T^s.  31 

by  an  easy  venality.  Genius  can  obey  only  the  dictates  of  ita 
own  iasprration.  Its  song  may  be  sweet  as  that  of  the  impris- 
oned bird,  but  it  is  in  the  free  air  and  open  sunshine  the  rich- 
ness of  its  glad  notes  are  heard.  The  restraint  of  censorship 
over  the  press,  backed  by  the  terrors  of  punishment,  or  the 
more  dangerous  allurements  of  reward,  crushes  the  spirit  of 
inquiry  and  limits  the  expansion  of  thought.  Discovery  be- 
comes a  crime,  and  doubt  of  established  error,  treason.  Creeds 
are  dictated  by  the  bayonet ;  and  honest  truth  is  branded  as 
a  disturber  of  the  peace.  The  question  is  no  longer,  how  we 
may  promote  the  good  of  the  whole  people,  but  how  existing 
abuses  may  be  screened  or  vindicated.  Religion  herself  is 
made  the  instrument  of  cunning  power,  and  the  terrors  of  Al- 
mighty vengeance  against  sin  perverted  to  sanctions  of  un- 
holy edicts.  The  same  iron  rule,  which  crushed  the  astrono- 
mer who  would  not  map  the  heavens  at  its  dictation,  would 
bind  hand  and  foot  and  cast  into  heU  the  daring  challenger  for 
the  rights  of  man.  From  generation  to  generation  the  work 
goes  on,  until  the  suffering  parent  teaches  his  child  submission 
to  secure  him  peace,  and  reason  forgets  to  doubt  that  its  ills 
are  not  from  necessity. 

How  different  is  the  lot  of  Genius  here  ?  Our  Others,  edu- 
cated to  hardy  independence  by  the  difficulties  of  the  forest, 
and  far  removed  from  the  illusive  glare  which  the  splendors 
of  aristocratic  institutions  fling  around  them ;  discovering,  by 
the  virtues  and  intelligence  of  their  compatriots  that  nobleness 
of  soul  depended  upon  no  accident  of  birth;  and  drinking 
deep  of  that  truth  which  flows  from  the  throne  of  Him  whose 
service  is  perfect  freedom,  established  their  claim  to  the  rights 


da  GENIUS. 

of  men,  and  founded  our  government  upon  the  only  true  ba- 
sis, the  good  of  the  whole  people  as  determined  by  the  people 
themselves.  Their  children  have  inherited  the  lustre  of  their 
example.  The  investigation  of  right  and  truth  they  continue 
as  their  privilege  and  safeguard.  Precedent,  however  hoary 
from  antiquity,  has  no  authority  except  what  it  derives  from 
truth.  Novelty,  however  startling,  is  not  rejected  without 
due  investigation  of  its  claims  to  belief.  Every  artificial  bar- 
rier to  the  rise  of  merit  is  broken  down.  The  author  appeals 
to  the  conscience  and  intelligence  of  the  people,  and  real  merit 
seldom  fails  of  reward.  Difficulties  common  to  our  nature 
must  exist,  but  never  were  the  paths  to  distinction  so  open  as 
here.  The  influence  of  this  freedom  upon  every  department 
of  mind,  I  need  not  stay  to  prove.  He,  who  has  once  breathed 
the  air  of  liberty,  will  brook  no  unwarranted  restraint.  The 
tyranny  of  false  criticism,  and  the  despotism  of  prejudice, 
must  fall,  when  the  unshackled  search  is  for  truth,  and  Ge- 
nius will  exult  in  her  own  originality. 

It  is  true,  that  literature  now  only  begins  to  flourish  among 
us.  Men  struggling  for  their  rights,  have  little  leisure  for  its 
retired  studies.  The  solution  of  the  new  problems,  which  our 
new  system  of  government  are  continually  unfolding,  have 
engrossed  the  attention  of  our  abler  minds.  The  works  of 
the  sculptor  and  the  painter  are  of  comparatively  little  inter- 
est to  those,  who  are  modelling  the  living  statue  of  moral  ex- 
cellence, or  subduing  the  forest,  that  they  may  reap  rich  har- 
vests from  the  virgin  soil.  Able  commentaries  upon  the  prin- 
ciples of  law,  profound  discoveries  in  science,  unequalled  skill 
in  the  application  of  mechanics,  and  constant  improvement  in 


GENIUS.  33 

all  the  useful  arts,  prove  that  mind  has  felt  the  impulse,  and 
has  been  moving  rapidly  in  the  best  directions.  Already,  too, 
have  we  heard  sweet  touches  from  the  poet's  lyre,  like  the 
rich  symphonies  which  precede  the  burst  of  song ;  and  every 
heart  has  thrilled  at  the  sound,  because  we  knew  the  hand  of 
free-born  Genius  swept  the  chords.  It  is  not  true,  that  Ameri- 
can Genius  is  despised  at  home.  There  has  been,  happily, 
too  much  taste  to  mistake  the  unsteady  efforts  of  undisci- 
plined and  unfurnished  striplings  for  classic  purity  and  manly 
power ;  yet  every  worthy  attempt  has  been  well  rewarded. 
The  very  pride  we  feel  in  everything  that  advances  our  coun- 
try's glory,  has  led  rather  to  over-praise  than  discouragement ; 
and  many  living  instances  might  be  brought,  if  decorum  per- 
mitted, to  show  that  nowhere  is  fame  so  readily  acquired  as 
with  us.  It  only  depends  upon  the  young  men  of  our  land  to 
sti'engthen  their  powers  by  severe  discipline,  and  to  bathe 
their  spirits  in  the  clear  springs  of  classic  lore,  before  they  de- 
mand the  rewards  of  Genius ;  and  those  rewards  are  theirs. 
The  fame  that  is  gained  without  such  arduous,  though  it 
should  be  pleasing,  toil,  will  be  as  fleeting  as  it  is  cheap. 

Gentlemen,  I  have  done.  It  would  be  ungrateful  to  tres- 
pass longer  upon  such  kind  attention.  Happy  wiU  I  be,  to 
have  won  your  approbation ;  happier  still,  if  I  have  contribu- 
ted to  excite  new  attention  to  our  noble  theme,  to  secure  a 
choice  of  u  eful  aims,  to  awaken  a  greater  zeal  in  their  pur- 
suit, to  chase  away  despondent  fears,  to  repress  unwarranted 
hopes,  or  heighten  the  glow  of  patriotic  gratitude  for  the  un- 
equalled privileges  of  our  beloved  land ;   but  truly  blessed, 


34  GENIUS. 

could  I  persuade  you,  by  a  parting  counsel,  to  sit,  with  all 
your  learning,  at  the  feet  of  that  meek  and  lowly  Teacher, 
whose  Gospel  revealed,  and  whose  example  marked,  in  "  a 
patient  continuance  of  well-doing,"  the  only  true  path  "  to 
glory,  and  honor,  and  immortality." 


TRUE   GLORY. 


1     S  E  E  M  0  N 

PEEACHED    BEFORE    THE 

THIRD  REFORMED  DUTCH  CHURCH  OF  PHILADELPHIA, 

February  3d,  1839, 

ON    THE 

OCCASION  OF  THE  DEATH 

OP 

STEPHEN  VAN  RENSSELAER. 

(PDBUSHED   BY   REQUEST.) 


SERMON. 


JEREMIAH  9:  23,  24. 
Thus  saith  the  lord,  let  not  the  wise  man  gloet  in  his 

WISDOM,  neither  LET  THE  MIGHTT  MAN  GLORY  IN  HIS  MIGHT  ; 
LET  NOT  THE  RICH  MAN  GLORY  IN  HIS  RICHES  ;  BUT  LET  HIM 
THAT  GLORIETH,  GLORY  IN  THIS,  THAT  HE  UNDERSTANDETH  AND 
KNOWETH  ME,  THAT  I  AM  THE  LORD,  WHICH  EXERCISE  LOVING- 
KINDNESS,  JUDGMENT  AND  RIGHTEOUSNESS  IN  THE  EARTH  j  FOR 
IN    THESE    THINGS    I   DELIGHT,    SAITH    THE    LORD. 

"  There  hath,"  saith  the  apostle  Paul  to  the  Corinthians, 
(1st,  10:  13,)  "no  temptation  taken  you,  but  such  as  is  com- 
mon to  man ;  but  God  is  faithful,  who  will  not  suffer  you  to 
be  tempted  above  that  ye  are  able ;  but  with  the  temptation 
will  also  make  a  way  of  escape,  that  ye  may  be  able  to  bear 
it."  Such  is  the  language  of  the  Holy  Ghost  to  all  God's 
people,  assuring  them,  that  their  safety  or  danger  lies  not  in 
the  external  circumstances  of  their  earthly  lot,  but  in  their 
faithful  use,  or  presumptuous  neglect  of  God's  sufficient  and 
abounding  grace.  Every  condition  of  life  has  its  perils  and 
its  advantages ;  and  the  office  of  religion  is,  not  to  change  that 
in  which  Providence  hath  placed  us,  but  to  strengthen  and 
sanctify  our  hearts,  that  we  may  resist  the  temptations,  and 
improve  the  opportunities  of  blessing,  presented  to  us.  God, 
4 


88  TRUE    GLORY. 

through  his  wise  and  parental  care  of  his  children,  may  cause 
them  to  be  placed  in  situations  of  greater  or  less  trial  and  dif- 
ficulty, that  he  may  chasten  them  from  peculiar  -weaknesses 
of  temper,  or  call  forth  to  useful  exercise  peculiar  qualities 
for  his  service ;  yet  this  consideration  should  convince  us  the 
more  fully,  that  in  "whatever  state  we  are,  therewith  we 
should  be  content,"  and  not  murmur  because  our  temptations 
seem  to  be  greater,  and  our  opportunities  of  serving  him  less, 
than  those  of  others.  The  only  Christian  way  to  amend  our 
lot,  is  by  amending  our  heart ;  for  with  an  evil  heart  any  lot 
would  bring  evil,  and  a  pious  heart  can  make  any  lot  good. 
It  is  impossible  to  escape  temptation,  but  the  faithful  soul  will 
find  temptations  to  be  his  friends,  in  supplying  opportunities 
of  higher  virtue  to  himself,  greater  good  to  the  world,  and 
more  manifest  glory  to  his  God. 

"  Blessed  is  the  man,  that  endureth  temptation ;  for  when 
he  is  tried  he  shaU  receive  the  crown  of  life,  which  the  Lord 
hath  promised  to  those  that  love  him.  Let  no  man  say,  when 
he  is  tempted,  I  am  tempted  of  God ;  for  God  cannot  be 
tempted  of  evil ;  neither  tempteth  he  any  man ;  but  every 
man  is  tempted  when  he  is  drawn  away  of  his  own  lust  and 
enticed."*  It  is,  therefore,  the  glory  of  the  Christian,  and  a 
blessed  proof  of  his  divine  renewal  from  the  weakness  of  hu- 
manity, when  he  stands  firm  amidst  shocks  or  seductions  to 
which  other  men  would  yield ;  and  the  dishonored  soul  can 
impute  his  failure  and  disgrace  only  to  his  own  sinful  weak- 
ness, cowardice,  and  folly. 

Thus,  in  the  text  we  find  neither  censure  nor  praise  of  men, 

*  James  1:  12,  13,  14. 


TRUE    GLORY.  39 

who  are  distinguished  for  their  wisdom,  their  power,  or  their 
riches,  because  of  those  accidents  to  their  lot ;  but  only  cen- 
sure of  those  who  make  their  boast  and  dependence  upon 
them  ;  and  praise  of  him,  who,  in  the  midst  of  them  all,  finds 
his  happiness  and  honor  in  the  knowledge,  trust,  and  service 
of  his  Lord. 

"  Let  him  that  glorieth,  glory  in  this,  that  he  understandeth 
and  knoweth  me,  that  I  am  the  Lord,  which  exercise  loving- 
kindness,  judgment,  and  righteousness  in  the  earth;  for  in 
these  things  I  delight,  saith  the  Lord." 

I.  The  holy  text  takes  it  for  granted,  that 

Evert  man  has  some  quality,  advantage,  or  pos- 
session UPON  WHICH  he  congratulates  HIMSELF,  AND 
FROM  WHICH  HE  EXPECTS  TO  DERIVE  HONOR,  SAFETY, 
OR   HAPPINESS. 

"  There  is,"  says  one,  "  a  little  world  in  every  man's  bosom ;" 
and  another,  who  seems  to  have  been  acquainted  with  the 
metaphysics  of  the  affections,  (Mrs.  Hemans,)  compares  the 
soul  to  a  universe.  The  world  may  resound  with  the  fame 
of  some  extensive  conqueror,  or  the  more  peaceful,  but  not 
less  mighty  exploits  of  some  far-reaching  statesman ;  yet  the 
heart  of  the  meanest  soldier  in  that  general's  army,  or  the 
most  insignificant  drudge  who  is  "  chained  to  the  desk's  dead 
wood,"  in  that  statesman's  bureau,  is  conscious  of  hopes  and 
fears,  aims  and  difficulties,  of  which  the  world  knows  nothing, 
but  which  are  more  than  all  the  world  beside  to  him.  There 
is  not  one  of  us,  however  we  may  be  whirled  about  by  the 
eddies  of  life  caused  by  the  movements  of  greater  men,  or  are 
lost  to  the  public  eye,  who  can  so  lose  his  distinct  conscious- 


4U  TKUE    GLORY. 

ness,  as  to  retain  nothing  in  his  mind  and  heart,  which  he 
values  not  as  his  own.  Little  as  we  think  of  it,  while  we  pur- 
sue our  several  ways  in  pursuit  of  objects  which  to  us  are 
paramount  of  all  others,  there  is  not  one  of  the  crowd  of  pas- 
sengers that  we  meet,  whose  happiness  is  not  as  important  to 
himself,  as  our  own  is  to  us ;  and  every  dwelling  of  the  vast 
city,  contains  hearts  worn  with  cares,  and  panting  with  hopes 
as  engrossing  as  those  to  which  we  would  make  all  things 
tributary.  The  child,  that  prattles  in  the  evening,  on  his 
father's  knee,  of  the  day's  tiny  exploits;  the  laborer,  who 
counts  his  slender  pittance,  and  meditates  the  morrow's  wants 
and  wages ;  or  the  mother  of  the  poor  man's  children,  busy 
and  weary  with  the  troubles  and  trials  of  her  narrow  house- 
hold, feels  each  an  interest  and  importance,  perchance  as 
great  as  the  warrior,  crowned  by  a  nation's  hand  with  immor- 
tal laurels ;  the  giant  financier,  who  can  make  or  break  a  na- 
tion at  his  will ;  or  the  supreme  magistrate,  who  seems  to 
wield  a  nation's  destinies.  Our  circumstances  may  be  various, 
but  "  as  in  water  face  answereth  to  face,  so  answereth  the 
heart  of  man  to  man  ;"  and  that  heart,  common  to  all  human- 
ity, must  have  something  to  love,  to  desire,  and  to  depend 
upon ;  and  that  which  holds  the  paramount  place  in  the  heart 
of  any  man,  is  his  glory,  in  the  sense  of  the  text. 

But  it  will  readily  be  acknowledged,  that  to  the  eye  of  God, 
those  distinctions  upon  which  men  pride  themselves,  must 
seem  as  nothing.  Wisdom,  might,  and  riches,  may  appear 
great  by  the  comparisons  which  our  insect  vision  can  make ; 
but,  when  brought  in  contrast  with  the  divine  wisdom,  the 
highest  reach  of  human  science  must  be  as  ignorance ;  with 


TRUE    GLORY.  41 

the  divine  power,  the  utmost  stretch  of  human  influence,  as 
weakness ;  with  the  divine  riches,  the  wealthiest  of  earth's 
sons  as  the  poorest.  "  Behold,"  saith  the  prophet,  "  the  na- 
tions are  counted  as  the  small  dust  of  the  balance  ;  behold,  He 
taketh  up  the  isles  as  a  very  little  thing." 

It  is,  therefore,  not  only  to  those  distinguished  far  above 
their  fellows  for  wisdom,  and  power,  and  riches,  that  the  voice 
of  God  here  speaks ;  but  to  all,  exhorting  each  of  us,  my 
hearers,  that  we  should  glory  in  the  understanding  and  knowl- 
edge of  the  Lord  who  "  exerciseth  loving  kindness,  judgment 
and  righteousness  in  the  earth ;"  and  place  our  dependence 
upon  his  care,  deriving  our  happiness  from  his  word  alone. 
It  was  in  obedience  to  such  teaching,  that  the  apostle  learned 
to  say :  "  God  forbid,  that  I  should  glory,  save  in  the  cross  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  by  whom  the  world  is  crucified  unto 
me,  and  I  unto  the  world!"  And  again:  "Yea,  doubtless, 
and  I  count  all  things  but  loss,  for  the  excellency  of  the  knowl- 
edge of  Christ  Jesus  my  Lord." 

II.  The  text  specifies  three  thikgs,  which  men  are 

ESPECIALLY  APT  TO  GLORY  IN,  TO  THE  NEGLECT  AND  DIS- 
HONOR OF  God  ;  WISDOM,  power,  and  riches. 

Wisdom  is  named  first,  as  naturally  the  strongest.  For, 
considering  wisdom  here  to  mean  a  man's  reason  and  acquired 
opinions,  there  is  nothing,  the  pride  of  which  he  will  give  up 
more  reluctantly.  It  was  shame  of  ignorance,  though  inno- 
cent, and  a  desire  of  knowledge,  though  forbidden,  that  be- 
trayed our  first  parents  to  sin ;  and,  notwithstanding  the  ex- 
press declaration  of  their  divine  Creator  and  Friend,  that  ruin 
would  be  the  consequence  of  their  transgression,  they  set  up 
4* 


42  TKUE    GLORY. 

their  opinion  in  opposition  to  his ;  and,  yielding  to  the  advice 
of  the  tempter,  because  it  flattered  their  undue  wishes,  they 
perilled  the  happiness  of  a  world  upon  their  judgment,  and 
lost  it. 

It  is  notoriously  true  of  men,  that  they  would  rather  be  sus- 
pected of  knavery  than  called  fools.  It  is  long  before  we 
learn,  by  bitter  experience,  to  credit  the  advice  of  our  elders, 
who  bid  us  to  avoid  the  plausible  but  the  deceptive,  and  pur- 
sue the  difficult,  but  the  true,  paths  of  worldly  comfort  and 
prosperity.  "We  have  daily  instances  of  men,  so  demented 
with  their  own  folly,  that  they  run  zealously  on  in  pursuit  of 
ends,  which,  all  the  world,  but  themselves,  see  can  never  be 
attained-  Upon  no  other  principle  than  this  proud  confidence 
of  men  in  their  own  reasons,  which  makes  them  unwilling  to 
confess  themselves  wrong,  or  acknowledge  the  superior  pru- 
dence of  others,  can  we  account  for  the  vast  variety  of  con- 
flicting opinions  about  matters,  which  a  candid  and  unbiassed 
judgment  might  settle  at  once.  How  seldom  it  is,  that  the 
most  elaborate  controversy  has  any  other  effect  upon  the  minds 
of  the  disputants,  but  to  make  them  more  obstinate  in  holding 
to  their  original  convictions !  Yet  the  listener  to  the  argu- 
ment may  see  that  one,  perhaps  both,  must  be  in  the  wrong. 
Indeed,  it  is  accounted  the  highest  proof  of  a  noble  mind,  that 
it  can  be  persuaded  contrary  to  its  previous  judgment ;  and 
none  but  he,  who  has  gone  deep  into  science,  has  made  the 
discovery,  that  "  he  knoweth  nothing  as  he  ought  to  know." 
For  this  reason,  our  Saviour  has  declared  that  the  first  lesson 
in  the  school  of  the  Holy  Ghost  is,  to  "  become  as  little  chil- 
dren," laying  aside  all  prejudice,  and  preconceived  notions  of 


TRUE   GLORY.  43 

what  religion  ougTit  to  be,  that  we  may  receive  "  the  wisdom 
from  above  pure"  and  unadulterated  into  honest  hearts ;  and 
the  apostle  asserts,  that  not  many  "  wise"  are  called  to  the 
rich  rewards  of  faith. 

It  is  a  lamentable  and  criminal  folly,  which  encourages  a 
man  to  suppose  that  he  can  learn  nothing  from  the  judgment 
and  experience  of  his  fellow  men,  and  that  he  is  an  infal- 
lible pronouncer  of  the  truth  where  others  doubt ;  and  which 
uses  any  meanness  of  sophistry,  (for  there  is  nothing  so  mean 
as  pride,)  and  perversion  of  fact,  to  avoid  a  defeat,  or  gain  a 
victory  in  argument,  at  the  expense  of  the  truth.  But  it  be- 
comes a  profane  rebellion  against  the  supremacy  of  the  di- 
vine Mind,  when  we  refuse  to  receive  the  truth  of  the  divine 
teachings,  because  we  cannot  comprehend  all  things  in  our 
puny  grasp,  and  heap  Pelion  upon  Ossa,  that  we  may  scale 
the  heavens  to  seat  our  reason  upon  the  throne  of  the  Al- 
mighty. It  is  a  most  desperate  pride,  that  has  pleasure  when 
opposing  truths  given  as  guides  toward  heaven,  and  exults  in 
a  doubt,  which  is  the  foreshadowing  of  damnation.  The 
knowledge  of  God's  creatures,  as  unfolded  to  us  by  the  re- 
searches of  science,  may  indeed  be  valuable,  but  the  study  of 
nature  comes  to  a  miserable  end,  when  it  leads  us  from 
the  worship  and  trust  of  nature's  God.  If  we  think  for  a 
moment  of  the  many  contingencies  against  which  no  human 
foresight  can  provide,  and  that  all  events  and  consequences 
are  the  results  of  the  Divine  will,  we  should  at  once  see, 
that  there  is  no  safety  in  any  knowledge  but  the  knowledge  of 
God's  favor,  and  the  assurance  of  his  love. 

Pride  o^  power  is  another  common  vice  of  the  human  heart. 


M  TRUE    GLORY. 

It  is  commonly  said,  that  no  man  is  free  from  the  lust  of 
ambition,  though  it  may  show  itself  differently  in  different  per- 
sons ;  and  hence  we  are  accustomed  to  consider  it  a  proof  of 
greatness,  when  men  are  able  to  sway  the  services  or  wills  of 
many.  The  excitement  of  childish  sports,  of  the  chase,  of 
horsemanship,  varies  not  in  its  essential  qualities  from  the  ex- 
citement which  urges  on  the  politician  after  oflSce  and  rule. 
The  mind  of  one  man  may  fit  him  for  the  contest  upon  a 
larger  scale ;  but  every  other  is  struggling,  with  perhaps  equal 
earnestness,  in  his  little  circle.  The  insatiate  conqueror,  who 
ascended  to  imperial  power  by  trampling  upon  his  country's 
liberty,  spoke  not  for  himself,  but  for  human  nature,  when  he 
said :  "  it  were  better  to  be  first  in  a  village,  than  second  at 
Ex)me ;"  and  the  lowest  sycophant  at  the  footstool  of  power, 
fawns  at  his  master's  feet,  that  he  may  win  the  right  of  looking 
down  with  assumption  upon  some  yet  more  abject  slave.  How 
delirious  this  pride  is,  we  see  in 

"  the  fantastic  tricks  of  brief  authority  ■" 

And  the  praise  we  award  to  those  who  can  bear  the  giddy  el- 
evation of  human  power  with  a  calm  brain,  and  an  unchanged 
heart,  proves  how  high  a  virtue  we  consider  theirs  to  be. 

But  what  pinnacle  of  fame  is  there  so  high,  that  God  may 
not  cast  us  down  from  it  into  as  remarkable  a  ruin  ?  What 
occasion  is  there  for  boast,  when  He  who  rules  the  tides  of 
ocean,  and  reins  the  storms  of  heaven,  and  guides  the  planets 
along  their  orbits,  holds  us  in  his  grasp  ?  At  his  word,  the 
sceptre  falls  from  the  monarch's  nerveless  hand ;  the  pesti- 
lence sweeps  armies  to  the  dust,  and  the  sea  whelms  navies 


TRUE   GLORr.  45 

by  its  foaming  spray.  Yet,  if  He  be  our  friend,  and  his  ever- 
lasting arms  be  around  our  souls,  how  safe,  how  superior  to 
every  chance,  are  we  ?  Well  may  he  glory,  "  who  glorieth 
in  the  Lord !" 

" Let  not  the  rich  man  glory  in  his  riches" 

If  the  pride  of  wisdom  be  the  most  natural,  and  the  pride 
of  power  the  most  intoxicating,  the  pride  of  wealth  has  come 
to  be  the  most  general ;  perhaps,  from  the  reason  that  the  ac- 
cumulation of  wealth  is  thought  to  be  a  proof  of  talents,  and 
can  pay  the  price  of  power.  As  it  is,  the  Scriptures  are  em- 
phatic in  warning  us  against  the  deceitfulness  of  riches,  and 
the  many  temptations  which  riches  bx'ing  with  them.  "  How 
hardly,"  saith  the  Saviour,  "  can  a  rich  man  enter  into  the 
kingdom  of  God  ?  It  is  easier  for  a  camel  to  go  through  the 
eye  of  a  needle,  than  for  a  rich  man  to  enter  into  the  king- 
dom of  God. . . .  "With  men,  it  is  impossible ;  but  with  God, 
all  things  are  possible." 

Riches  are  dangerous  in  their  pursuit.  What  falsehoods, 
veiled,  I  know,  in  allowed  phrases,  yet  not  the  less  falsehoods, 
daily  pass  between  buyer  and  seller  ?  What  tricks  and  base 
contrivances  abound,  daily,  on  every  hand,  that  one  man  may 
reap  profit  at  another's  expense .''  What  artificial  means  are 
conjured  up,  that  credit  may  be  inflated  beyond  its  honest 
proportions,  each  one  lending  himself  to  the  general  fraud, 
from  the  hope  of  reaping  personal  gain?  What  care  in 
the  drafting  of  deeds,  what  nicety  in  the  statement  of  con- 
tracts, to  keep  honorable  men  from  defrauding  honorable 
men  ?  A  few  pages  of  your  statute  books  are  sufiicient  to 
prescribe  the  pains   and  penalties  of  murder,  and  outrage. 


46  TRUE   GLORT. 

and  theft,  and  forgery,  and  incendiarism ;  but  what  libraries 
of  law,  to  settle  questions  which  the  cupidity  and  grasping 
dishonesty  of  those,  who  shrink  from  vulgar  roguery,  sug- 
gest ?  Imperial  Rome,  in  the  worst  days  of  her  vice,  had 
more  voluptuous  and  beastly  excesses ;  but  never,  do  I  be- 
lieve, could  she  have  exhibited  such  cold-blooded  craft,  and 
guile,  and  grinding  cruelty,  as  would  be  revealed,  if  the 
mysteries  of  modem  iniquity  were  laid  bare  to  the  sight 

As  they  are  dangerous  in  pursuit,  so  are  they  dangerous  in 
possession.  The  facilities  of  luxurious  gratification,  the  means 
of  veiling  secret  profligacy,  the  pride  of  empty  display,  flat- 
tered by  the  arts  of  the  parasite,  the  removal  of  any  sense  of 
immediate  dependence  upon  the  providence  of  God  in  honest 
toil,  the  fondness  they  engender  for  a  world,  where  the  heart 
has  so  much  to  cling  to,  all  unfit  the  rich  man,  if  he  be  not 
sustained  by  unusual  grace,  for  the  service  of  God  upon  earth, 
and  the  securing  of  his  eternal  safety. 

Never,  perhaps,  did  the  lust  of  gold  rule  the  world  more 
despotically,  or  were  the  hearts  of  men  in  greater  danger 
from  it  than  now.  The  lance  of  the  warrior,  and  the  might 
of  the  statesman,  are  aU  in  bondage  to  the  banker's  pen.  A 
few  Jewish  money-changers  now  decide  the  destinies  of  Eu- 
rope, and  in  our  own  land,  where  the  harvests  of  freedom 
were  sown  by  the  frugal  hands  of  our  simple  ancestors,  the 
prosperity  of  our  nation  is  estimated  by  dollars  and  cents.  It 
is  not  the  vice  of  one  party  or  another,  but  of  the  nation,  and 
of  the  world.  Everything  is  reduced  to  the  mean  scale  of  a 
low  utilitarianism ;  and  all  our  busiest  inquiries  are  complica- 
tions of  the  craving  question :  "  What  shall  we  eat,  what  shall 


TRUE    GLORY.  47 

we  drink,  and  wherewithal  shall  we  be  clothed  ?"  Some  the- 
orists may  boast  of  this  as  the  march  of  civilization,  and  point 
exultingly  to  the  white  banner  of  peace  planted  by  the  hand 
of  a  more  cunning  avarice.  Advantage  may  redound  from  it, 
I  believe,  but  I  question  whether  it  were  not  better  to  live 
free  in  the  forest  chase,  than  to  be  the  slaves  of  sordid  pelf; 
or  to  die  in  the  bloody  battle,  than  to  live  a  life  in  death, 
bound  up  by  the  next  moment's  price.  It  matters  little,  if 
gold  be  our  idolatry,  whether  we  mould  it  into  the  giant 
statue,  or  stamp  it  into  coin. 

I  speak  not  disparagingly  of  honest  industry.  Commerce 
has  been  the  nurse  of  freedom  and  religious  toleration.  The 
first  men  who  rose  from  the  people  to  take  hereditary  power 
by  the  throat,  were  those  who  had  learned  freedom  from  the 
pure  waves  and  free  winds  of  that  ocean  which  bore  their 
freighted  barks.  The  necessity  of  labor  is  man's  privilege,  as 
well  as  punishment ;  and  the  sweat-drops  on  the  brow  of  hon- 
est toil,  I  hold  more  precious  than  the  jewels  of  a  ducal  coro- 
net. But  I  have  the  conscience  of  every  hearer  with  me,  in 
saying  that  mere  living  is  not  the  end  of  life. 

Death  will  soon  dissolve  all  our  contracts,  vitiate  all  our  en- 
gagements, and  cancel  all  our  bonds.  Where  then  will  be  his 
glory,  who  has  gloried  only  in  his  riches  ?  In  the  eternal 
world  there  is  a  true  wealth,  and  an  abiding  treasure ;  but  he 
alone  will  heir  it,  who  "  understandeth  and  knoweth  me,  saith 
the  Lord,"  and  hath  made  my  love  and  my  favor  his  glory 
and  his  gain. 

III.  Glorying  in  the  Lord  is  not  incompatible  with  the  pos- 
session of  wisdom,  power,  or  riches. 


48  TRUE   GLORY. 

The  highest  glory  of  man  on  earth,  is  to  be  the  instrument 
of  God's  "loving  kindness,  judgment  and  righteousness ;"  and 
none  can  be  said  "  to  know  him"  aright,  or  "  understand"  the 
beauty  of  his  character,  who  strives  not  to  imitate  his  exer- 
cise of  those  admirable  attributes. 

If,  then,  any  degree  of  wisdom  be  ours,  it  is  our  high  priv- 
ilege to  use  it  in  the  advancement  of  his  glory,  and  the  best 
good  of  our  fellow  men  ;  and  the  more  wisdom  we  possess  the 
greater  is  our  faculty  for  that  blessed  end. 

If  we  have  any  degree  of  power  or  social  influence,  (and 
none  of  us  without  some,)  it  is  our  high  privilege  to  use  that 
influence  for  the  vindication  of  the  Redeemer's  name,  and  the 
guidance  of  our  fellow  men  on  the  way  to  glory ;  and  the 
greater  our  influence,  the  more  efficient  our  example  and  zeal 
may  be. 

If  we  have  any  degree  of  riches,  it  is  our  privilege,  by  a 
heavenly  alchemy,  to  turn  the  dross  that  perisheth,  into  eter- 
nal and  incorruptible  treasures,  which  shall  fill  the  treasury  of 
God  with  the  priceless  jewels  of  ransomed  souls ;  and  the 
greater  our  riches,  the  greater  means  we  have  for  doing  good 
in  Christ's  most  holy  name. 

Certainly,  earth  hath  no  nobler  spectacle  (and  it  is  one  an- 
gels leave  heaven  to  contemplate,)  than  that  of  a  good  man, 
preserving,  amidst  the  temptations  of  wisdom,  and  power,  and 
riches,  his  humble  trust  in  God  his  Saviour,  as  his  highest 
glory,  and  his  delight  in  serving  his  fellow  men,  as  his  next 
chiefest  good.  His  is  a  wisdom  the  most  ignorant  must  ven- 
erate ;  a  power  the  most  malicious  must  approve,  and  a 
wealth,  which  envy  itself  would  hardly  dare  to  steal. 


TRUE    GLORY.  49 

This  wisdom,  and  power,  and  riches,  may  be  attained  by  us 
all.  For,  though  our  learning  may  be  poor,  our  influence 
narrow,  and  our  means  small,  he  "  that  glorieth  in  knowing 
and  serving  the  Lord,"  hath  done  his  duty,  when  he  hath 
done,  through  Divine  grace,  what  he  could. 


Of  such  Christian  excellence,  a  rare  example  has  just  been 
completed,  by  the  translation  to  heaven,  of  that  venerable 
man  whose  hands  laid  the  comer-stone  of  this  house  of  the 
Lord ;  and  whose  zeal,  and  prayers,  and  benefactions,  have 
long  blessed  that  communion  of  saints  to  whose  order  it  be- 
longs. 

It  were  a  violation  of  Christian  gratitude,  an  injustice  to 
the  world,  and  a  refusal  to  give  glory  to  God,  if  the  sad  tidings 
of  the  death  of  Stephen  Van  Eensselaer  received  no  no- 
tice from  this  pulpit.  It  is  no  sin  to  honor  him  when  dead, 
whom  God  honored  so  much  when  living.  The  memory  of 
his  virtues  is  the  precious  legacy  the  grace  of  Christ  has  per- 
mitted him  to  leave  for  the  comfort  of  the  church,  which  feels 
in  his  loss,  a  vacuum  no  living  man  can  fill ;  and  the  glory  of 
their  praise  will  redound  to  Him  who  sealed  him  in  youth  as 
his  own,  and  crowned  his  hoary  head,  white  with  the  snows 
of  more  than  seventy  winters,  with  the  beauty  of  righteous- 
ness. 

I  dare  not  pronounce  his  eulogium  before  you,  who  knew 
him  not ;  for  the  simple  truth  would  seem  to  you  like  extrav- 
agant panegyric.  But  were  I  among  those  who  met  him  in 
5 


50  TRUE    GLORY. 

his  daily  walk ;  observed  his  meek  and  gentle  life ;  saw  his 
high  station,  adorned  by  the  most  childlike  simplicity ;  and 
knew,  by  the  constant  streams  of  benevolence  which  flowed 
from  it,  that  his  heart  was  a  fountain  of  love  to  God  and  man ; 
my  warmest  words  would  seem  cold,  and  my  strongest  testi- 
monies faint  to  their  sense  of  his  character.  Yet  there  is  one 
here,*  who  had  the  honored  office  of  his  pastor  and  friend, 
for  many  years ;  whose  heart  is  bearing  me  witness,  that  if 
ever  man  walked  in  the  footsteps  of  the  lowly  Jesus,  "  going 
about  doing  good,"  it  was  Stephen  Van  Rensselaer. 

Born  to  a  large  patrimony,  the  increasing  prosperity  of  the 
country  poured  wealth  upon  him,  until  he  became,  with  the 
exception,  perhaps,  of  one  other,  the  richest  man  of  the  land ; 
and  wearing,  by  the  common  consent  of  all  around  him,  the 
only  hereditary  title  known  among  us,  he  swayed  an  influence 
wider  than  any  other  private  citizen  possessed.  Cautious, 
but  not  cold ;  frank,  but  never  rash ;  without  the  qualities  of 
fervid  genius,  or  depth  of  learning,  he  had  a  judgment  singu- 
larly clear  and  correct,  a  pure,  common  sense,  which  rarely 
failed  to  guide  him  in  duties  which  his  conscience  loved. 
Surrounded  by  grateful  dependents,  and  affectionate  friends, 
though  there  could  not  be  wanting  those  who  would  have 
preyed  upon  his  abounding  fortunes,  he  has  gone  to  his  grave 
without  an  enemy. 

The  beauty  of  his  wisdom  was  his  guilelessness,  the  strength 
of  his  power  was  his  goodness,  and  the  abundance  of  his 
wealth  his  vast  benevolence. 

His  greatness  was  like  that  of  a  noble  tree,  planted  by  the 

*  The  Rev.  Provost  Ludlow. 


TRUE    GLORY.  51 

river  of  the  water  of  life,  spreading  wide  its  sheltering  arms 
to  overshadow  all  who  needed  refuge,  which  yielded  peren- 
nial fruits,  and  "  whose  leaf  never  faded."  His  bounty  was 
not  the  occasional  and  noisy  gushes  of  ostentatious  pride,  but 
silent,  secret,  and  gentle  as  the  dew,  refreshing  far  and  near, 
yet  with  a  kindly  care  for  the  lowliest  herb  of  the  field,  heal- 
ing but  never  wounding  the  heart  it  blessed ;  while  every 
drop  glistened  in  the  light  of  the  Sun  of  Righteousness,  and 
was  exhaled  to  heaven. 

Early  called  to  take  a  part  in  the  councils  of  his  State,  and 
afterward  of  his  country,  his  voice  was  never  heard  amidst  the 
stormy  debate  when  men  contending  for  personal  fame  forgot 
their  country ;  but  his  steady  vote  was  always  recorded  on 
behalf  of  the  whole  people.  He  loved  his  country  more  than 
himself.  When  war  thundered  on  our  coast  and  frontier,  he 
left  the  comforts  of  the  sweetest  home  that  ever  enclosed  a 
loving  family,  and  as  a  General  of  the  highest  grade,  served 
through  the  long  campaign  as  patiently  and  steadily  as  the 
lowest  citizen  in  the  ranks  of  that  militia,  which  baffled  and 
beat  back  the  veterans  of  many  wars. 

An  elder  in  the  church  of  his  fathers,  he  seemed  to  count 
it  his  best  honor  to  serve  the  followers  of  Jesus ;  and  when  a 
member  of  ecclesiastical  courts,  as  he  frequently  was,  he  never 
shrank  from  any  labor,  nor  became  "  weary  in  well  doing." 
It  may  safely  be  said,  that  the  church  he  so  much  loved,  ap- 
proaching as  it  does,  more  nearly  than  any  other,  the  order  of 
the  apostolic  age,  became  dearer,  and  yet  dearer  to  his  heart 
as  he  drew  near  his  end. 

Yet  sect  could  not  confine  the  charity  of  his  spirit.     We 


52  TRUE    GLORY. 

dare  not  claim  him  as  wholly  our  own.  He  belonged  to 
Christianity,  to  the  world,  because  he  belonged  to  God  and 
Christ ;  and  never  was  his  aid  sought  in  any  cause  of  benevo- 
lence, morals  or  piety,  (and  the  applications  were  as  constant 
as  the  day,  and  numerous  as  its  hours,)  that  his  answer  was 
not  that  of  "  the  cheerful  giver,"  whom  "  the  Lord  loves." 

But  it  was  in  his  home  that  the  Christian  shone  most  ra- 
diantly and  sweetly,  where  his  gentle  spirit  found  delightful 
fellowship  with  the  innocence  of  children,  and  the  quiet  love- 
liness of  kindred  affection.  The  guest,  who  crossed  that 
threshold,  forgot  he  was  a  stranger,  and  though  poor,  amidst 
all  the  apphances  of  uncounted  wealth,  felt  only  that  he  was 
at  home.  Alas !  for  the  bereaved  hearts  within  that  dwelling 
which  knows  him  now  no  more !     God  comfort  them ! 

Long  suffering  had  chastened  his  spirit  to  an  almost  hea- 
venly purity,  and  they,  who  "  marked  the  perfect,  and  beheld 
the  upright,"  saw,  that  "the  end  of  that  man  was  peace." 
In  the  midst  of  his  affectionate  children  and  near  his  devoted 
wife,  within  the  hall  where  the  servant  of  God,  and  the  friend 
of  man,  ever  found  an  unfeigned  welcome,  his  venerable  head 
fell  gently  upon  his  bosom.  He  was  asleep  in  Jesus.  His 
flesh  shall  rest  in  hope,  but  his  spirit  is  now  singing  the  song 
in  heaven  he  loved  to  sing  on  earth.  He  "  rests  from  his  la- 
bors, and  his  works  have  followed  him." 

I  cannot  deny  that  the  heart  of  the  man  has  swelled  the  tide 
of  the  preacher's  sorrow  for  his  loss,  and  joy  for  his  redemption ; 
but  I  need  not  ask  you  to  pardon  these  expressions  of  honest 
affection.  I  can  never  be  called  to  speak  of  such  another. 
When  shall  we  find  another  his  equal  ?    When,  again,  will 


TKUE   GLOET.  53 

SO  many  good  men  weep  for  a  brother  ?  I  loved  him  as  a 
friend,  a  father,  and  a  counsellor ;  but  aU  who  knew  him,  as 
it  was  my  privilege  to  know  him,  loved  him  with  the  same 
affection.  Yet  chiefly  should  we  all  love  and  imitate  him,  as 
one  who,  tempted  and  blessed  above  the  ordinary  lot  of  men, 
"  gloried  not  in  wisdom,  or  power,  or  riches,  but  in  this,  that 
he  understood  and  knew  the  Lord,  who  exerciseth  loving 
kindness,  and  judgment,  and  righteousness  in  the  earth ;"  and 
was  of  the  number  of  those  in  whom  the  Lord,  for  Christ's 
sake,  hath  great  delight. 


5* 


LEISURE  — ITS   USES   AND   ABUSES. 


A    LECTURE 


DBLIYEBED  BEFOBE   THE 


NEW  YORK  lERCANTlIE  LIBRARY  ASSOCIATION 


MAECH,  1839. 


L  E  C  T  U  U  E. 


The  subject  announced  for  discussion  this  evening,  prom- 
ises little  novelty  of  thought  or  learned  research,  and  may  in 
the  judgment  of  some  savor  too  strongly  of  the  lecturer's  pro- 
fession. But  it  has  been  chosen  in  the  belief,  that  an  au- 
dience, like  the  present,  composed  of  persons  distinguished 
for  zeal  in  the  acquirement  of  sound  knowledge,  would  pre- 
fer practical,  though  familiar  truths,  to  flights  of  fancy  or  pe- 
dantic display ;  and  that  they  never  would  have  invited  one  to 
address  them,  who,  without  a  name  for  science  or  general  lite- 
rature, could  only  have  been  known  to  them  as  a  preacher 
of  morals,  if  they  had  wished  him  entirely  to  forget  his  office 
in  complying  with  their  request. 

Leisure  strictly  signifies  unoccupied  time.  A  man  of  lei- 
sure is  one  who  has  nothing  to  do,  a  condition  supposed  to  be 
honorable  in  those  countries  where  false  forms  of  society  make 
the  many  the  servants  of  the  few ;  but  happily  not  in  our 
own,  where  the  greatest  good  of  the  whole  number  is  the  glo- 
rious aim  of  an  intelligent  democracy.  Here,  the  laborer  is 
honorable,  the  idler  infamous.  We  tolerate  no  drones  in  our 
hive,  and  every  one,  who  would  share  in  its  sweets,  must  con- 
tribute to  the  general  happiness.     Indeed,  a  man  among  us 


58  LEISURE ITS   USES   AND    ABUSES. 

must  either  be  content  to  be  busy,  or  content  to  be  alone,  Kke 
the  truant  school  boy,  who  found  no  one  idle  but  himself,  and 
was  glad  to  get  back  to  school  for  the  sake  of  company ;  or, 
like  the  solitary  goose  of  Patrick  O'Rooney,*  be  full  of  fun, 
and  nothing  to  play  with.  So  may  it  ever  be.  The  sweat- 
drops  on  the  brow  of  honest  toil  are  more  precious  than  the 
jewels  of  a  ducal  coronet,  and  the  pen  of  a  ready  writer,  the 
tools  of  the  artisan,  and  the  axe  of  the  backwoodsman,  are 
weapons  of  a  nobler  chivalry  than  ever  couched  the  lance  or 
wielded  the  sword. 

In  this  nice  sense  of  the  term,  we  can  have  no  leisure  ;  for 
the  truly  virtuous  and  faithful  will  find  occupation  for  every 
moment.  Living  in  a  world  of  so  many  wants,  and  with  an 
immortality  before  us  so  full  of  reward,  we  can  never  lack  an 
opportunity  of  doing  good  to  others  and  profiting  ourselves. 
But  every  man  who  pursues  a  regular  calling,  however  close- 
ly he  may  devote  himself  to  business,  will  have  certain  inter- 
vals of  relief  from  his  more  pressing  engagements.  These 
constitute  that  leisure  of  which  I  would  speak. 

During  a  recent  visit  to  the  United  States  mint,  I  observed 
in  the  gold  room,  that  a  rack  was  placed  over  the  floor  for  us 
to  tread  upon ;  and  on  inquiring  its  purpose,  I  was  answered, 
that  it  was  to  prevent  the  visitor  from  carrying  away  with  the 
dust  of  his  feet  the  minute  particles  of  precious  metal,  which, 
despite  of  the  utmost  care,  would  fall  upon  the  floor,  when 
the  rougher  edges  of  the  bars  were  filed ;  and  that  the  sweep- 
ings of  the  building  saved  thousands  of  dollars  in  the  year. 
How  much  more  precious  the  most  minute  fragments  of  time  ! 

*  Immortalized  by  Miss  Edgeworth. 


LEISURE ITS    USES   AND   ABUSES.  59 

and  yet  how  often  are  they  trodden  upon  like  dust  by  thought- 
lessness and  folly  ?  The  necessity  of  labor  was  doubtless  in- 
tended for  our  salutary  discipline,  yet  it  is  a  most  painful 
thought,  that  so  much  of  life's  brief  time  is  lost  upon  physical 
wants  and  momentary  gratifications.  To  say  nothing  of  our 
useless  infancy,  the  long  years  of  preparation  for  active  life, 
daily  demands  for  sleep  and  food  and  social  decencies,  what 
makes  up  the  business  of  the  world  ?  Ascend  by  day  some 
eminence  from  which  you  can  look  down  on  this  populous 
city  —  what  busy  crowds  are  hurrying  to  and  fro  —  what  a 
hum  of  anxious  voices  —  what  a  clamor  of  incessant  toil! 
Here  a  long  train  of  flying  cars  are  drawn  along  the  level 
way ;  there,  many  a  freighted  vessel  spreads  her  white  can- 
vass to  the  breeze,  seeking  distant  continents,  or  folds  her 
weary  wings  as  she  glides  to  her  rest ;  below,  the  reluctant 
beast  drags  his  heavy  load ;  stately  warehouses  rise  thick  on 
every  hand,  and  countless  shops  display  their  glittering  wares ; 
while  marble  palaces,  with  pillared  fronts  and  thronged  as- 
cents, demand  the  admiring  eye.  What  is  the  cause  of  all 
this  struggle  ?  What  mighty  end  thus  makes  man  and  beast 
and  element  subservient  ?  It  is  a  vain  attempt  to  answer 
the  insatiable  craving  of  the  human  heart,  "  what  shall  we  eat, 
what  shall  we  drink,  and  wherewithal  shall  we  be  clothed  ?" 
With  rare  exceptions,  mere  living  is  the  business  of  life,  and 
mind  the  slave  of  the  body's  occasions ;  star-eyed  science  is 
invoked  only  to  swell  the  profits  of  business  by  her  money 
making  or  money  saving  inventions ;  dear  poesy  flings  aside 
the  noblest  lyre  that  ever  woke  echoes  of  freedom  in  Ameri- 
can bosoms,  to  go  into 


60  LEISURE ITS   USES   AND   ABUSES. 


■  The  Cotton  Trade 


And  Sugar  Line,  • 


while  religion  is  allowed  to  tell  vulgar  rogues,  that  they  must 
not  steal,  nor  pull  down  flour  stores,  nor  riot  at  elections, 
but  is  frowned  back  to  her  altars  as  an  impudent  intermed- 
dler  with  things  beyond  her  sphere,  if  she  dare  to  speak  of 
the  mysteries  of  stock-jobbing,  excesses  of  credit,  or  bubbles 
of  speculation ;  and  as  for  conscience,  since  the  notable  dis- 
covery that  corporations  have  no  souls,  her  scruples  are  si- 
lenced by  an  act  of  assembly.  Surely  mind,  spiritual,  immor- 
tal mind,  was  made  for  better  uses  ;  and  when  I  think  of  the 
spacious  shelves  laden  with  well  worn  books,  the  croAvded 
lecture  hall,  the  munificent  founders,  and  see  before  me  the 
intelligent  countenances  of  those  who  are  the  active  members 
of  the  Mercantile  Library  Association,  I  am  well  assured 
that  all  is  not  lost,  nor  is  "  the  city  wholly  given  to  idolatry." 
I  have  meant  no  disrespect  for  the  city  of  New  York.  I 
have  spoken  of  it  only  as  part  of  the  busy  world.  Disrespect 
for  New  York  ?  It  is  my  birth  place,  the  home  of  my  youth, 
and  the  asylum  of  my  earliest  affections.  Grown  it  is  indeed, 
almost  out  of  my  knowledge ;  and  when  I  come  to  visit  it, 
it  seems  strange  yet  familiar,  as  a  vigorous  young  man  in  a 
long  coat,  whom  one  knew  first  a  growing  boy  in  a  round- 
about jacket.  I  once,  when  far  away  in  a  foreign  land,  pick- 
ed up  a  New  York  paper,  and  read  an  advertisement  of 
building  lots  in  hundred  and  forty-second  street ;  and  on  an- 
other page,  an  article  on  bringing  the  Croton  River  to  New 
York.  "What  folly  !  I  thought  to  myself.  Bring  the  Croton 
River  to  New  York  ?  let  them  wait  a  few  years  longer,  and 


LEISURE ITS   USES   AND   ABUSES.  61 

at  this  rate  New  York  will  go  to  Croton  River.  There  must 
have  been  some  mistake,  however,  for  on  my  return  the  only 
inhabitant  I  found  near  that  spot  was  a  hermit  frog,  a  "  fat  and 
greasy  citizen"  who  croaked  unconscious  defiance  of  land  tax 
and  water  rents. 

Dear  New  York !  Few  of  you,  young  men,  remember  it 
as  I  do,  when  we  ran  down  the  Flattenberg  on  our  little 
sleighs,  or  skated  on  Lispenard's  meadows  and  Burr's  pond, 
and  thought  Leonard  street  "  up  town."  But  cross  in  a  sum- 
mer's day  to  Weehawken,  and  climb  the  hill  above  the  spot 
where  the  monument  used  to  stand,  till 

"  Your  foot  is  on  the  verge  of  the  clifF,  and  you  can  hear 
The  low  dash  of  the  wave  with  startled  ear," 

And  then  look  forth  upon  the  bay,  and  you  will  see  it  un- 
changed. 

"  Tall  spire,  and  glittering  roof,  and  battlement, 
And  banners  floating  in  the  sunny  air, 
And  white  sails  on  the  calm  blue  waters  bent, 
Green  isle,  and  circling  shore,  are  blended  there 
In  w^ild  reality  —  when  life  is  old, 
And  many  a  scene  forgot,  the  heart  will  hold 
Its  memory  of  this  ;  now,  lives  there  one, 
"Whose  infant  breath  was  drawn,  or  boyhood's  days 
Of  happiness  were  passed  beneath  that  sun, 
That  in  his  manhood's  prime  can  calmly  gaze 
Upon  that  bay,  or  on  that  mountain  stand, 
Nor  feel  the  prouder  of  his  native  land." 

I  said  I  meant  no  disrespect  for  New  York,  neither  did  I 
for  merchants.     My  father  was  a  merchant  of  New  York,  and 

6 


62  LEISURE ITS   USES   AND   ABUSES. 

dear  to  his  son,  above  most  things  in  this  hfe,  is  the  reputation 
he  won  in  the  walks  of  commerce  and  by  the  application  of 
its  gains,  for  unsullied  integrity  and  noble  benevolence.  It  is 
beyond  the  power  of  thought  to  estimate  the  blessings  which 
God  has  conferred  upon  the  world  by  the  influence  of  com- 
merce and  commercial  men.  The  history  of  modem  civiliza- 
tion and  modern  liberty  is  identified  with  the  history  of 
commerce.  The  first  dawnings  of  rational  freedom  were  in 
the  commei'cial  republics  of  Venice  and  Genoa ;  though  spoil- 
ed by  success,  and  depraved  by  luxury,  their  merchant-princes 
became  tyrants,  and  then  slaves.  But  scarcely  later  in  the 
Lower  Netherlands,  the  merchant  cities  of  those  brave  Saxons 
and  Frisons,  who  preferred  to  wring  from  the  sea  an  asylum 
for  freedom,  rather  than  submit  to  Roman  conquest  or  Frank 
oppression,  with  thoughts  as  free  as  the  ocean  breeze  which 
wafted  their  freighted  barks,  first  taught  the  world  the  lesson 
of  constitutional  government,  and  the  strength  of  confederated 
rights ;  first  proclaimed  that  the  right  of  government  was  not 
in  the  hereditary  noble,  but  in  man ;  and  insisted  upon  the 
admission  of  every  man,  even  the  humblest,  to  freedom,  though 
they  reserved  the  honor  of  citizenship  as  a  reward  of  integrity 
and  industry.  From  the  free  cities  of  Flanders,  from  among 
their  merchants  and  tradesmen,  arose  the  first  men  of  the  peo- 
ple that  dared  to  take  power  by  the  throat,  and  bind  the  hands 
of  tyranny  by  the  cords  of  reason  ;  and  since  that  day,  true 
civil  liberty,  1  mean  that  which  secures  alike  the  happiness  of 
the  whole  people,  most  abounds  where  commerce  is  the  most 
active  and  the  most  free.  In  our  own  happy  land,  we  have 
brought  those  lessons  of  equality,  confederation,  and  self-gov- 


LEISURE ITS    USES    AND    ABUSES.  63 

ernment,  nearest  to  perfection ;  but  we  have  yet  more  to  learn. 
Unhallowed  is  that  pride  and  insolence  of  wealth,  which 
would  make  the  political  rights  of  the  poor  and  rich  unequal, 
for  then  would  the  fate  of  Venice  and  Genoa  be  ours.  Un- 
hallowed is  that  fanaticism,  which,  from  partial  prejudices  or 
selfish  interests,  would  strain  the  cords  of  our  union  to  disrup- 
tion, for  then  the  chaotic  dance  of  atoms  would  be  repeated  in 
the  concussion  of  civil  wars,  and  final  confusion  of  rights  and 
liberties ;  but,  though  perhaps  I  may  differ  from  some  who 
hear  me,  I  must  be  permitted  to  add,  as  the  wish  of  one  hum- 
ble but  sincere  patriot,  happy  will  that  day  be,  when  trade  shall 
be  free  as  the  spirit  of  the  constitution,  every  shackle  taken 
from  her  wings,  and,  after  a  just  tax  paid  for  the  support  and 
protection  of  government,  duties  be  demanded  from  none,  nor 
privileges  granted  to  any,  that  are  not  granted  to  all ;  when 
every  man  shall  be  justified  in  pursuing  whatever  honest  oc- 
cupation he  pleases,  and  trade  when  he  pleases,  and  in  what 
he  pleases,  be  it  goods  or  be  it  money,  and  there  be  acknowl- 
edged no  right  or  power  anywhere  to  restrain  the  honest 
uses  of  capital,  to  endanger  or  distract  the  common  currency, 
to  exact  from  the  consumer  an  artificial  price,  or  to  deprive 
the  producer  of  his  just  rewards.  Only  let  commerce  be  free, 
and  the  sinews  of  commerce,  agriculture  and  manufactures,  be 
free,  and  we  need  not  fear  for  the  freedom  of  the  world. 
They  are  young  giants  that  need  no  swaddling  bands  —  grow- 
ing oaks,  that  ask  no  hot-house  care. 

Nor  should  it  be  forgotten,  that  we  owe  to  commerce  the 
discovery  of  once  unknown  continents,  and  that  but  for  her, 
we  should  never  have  gloried  in  the  name  of  Americans.     It 


64  LEISURE ITS    USES    AND    ABUSES. 

is  commerce  whicli  makes  the  luxuries  of  eacli  land  common  to 
all ;  brings  the  spices  of  the  tropics  to  enrich  the  dainties  of 
our  winter  festivals,  cheers  us  in  the  morning  with  the  sober 
berry's  juice,  and  refreshes  us  in  the  evening  with  "  the  cup 
that  cheers,  but  not  inebriates,"  mingled  and  blessed  by  the  fair 
hands  of  those  we  love.  The  hordes  of  India,  the  serfs  of  Rus- 
sia, the  paupers  of  Britain,  toil,  at  her  command,  for  us. 

There  are  also  in  the  stem  ethics  and  the  fearless  confidence 
of  enlarged  commerce,  some  of  the  finest  exhibitions  of  lofty 
humanity  and  generous  truth.  "  It  might  tempt  one,"  says  an 
admirable  author,  "  to  be  proud  of  his  species,  when  he  looks 
upon  the  faith  reposed  in  a  merchant  by  a  distant  correspon- 
dent, who,  without  one  other  hold  of  him  than  his  honor,  con- 
fides to  him  the  wealth  of  a  whole  flotilla,  and  sleeps  in  the 
confidence  that  it  is  safe.  It  is  indeed  an  animating  thought, 
amid  the  gloom  of  a  world's  depravity,  when  we  behold  the 
credit  which  one  man  puts  in  another,  though  separated  by 
seas  and  by  continents  ;  when  he  fixes  the  anchor  of  a  sure 
and  steady  dependence  on  the  reputed  faith  of  one  whom  he 
never  saw ;  when  with  all  his  fear  for  the  treachery  of  the 
various  elements  through  which  his  property  must  pass,  he 
knows,  that  should  it  arrive  at  the  door  of  his  agent,  his  fears 
and  his  suspicions  may  be  at  an  end.  "We  know  nothing  finer 
than  such  an  act  of  homage  from  one  being  to  another,  when 
perhaps  the  diameter  of  the  globe  is  between  them ;  nor  do 
we  think  that  either  the  renown  of  her  victories,  or  the  wis- 
dom of  her  counsels,  so  signalizes  the  country  in  which  we 
live,  as  do  the  honorable  dealings  of  her  merchants,  or  the 
awarded  confidence  of  those  men,  of  all  tribes  and  colors  and 


LEISURE  —  ITS   USES   AND   ABUSES.  65 

languages,  who  look  to  our  agency  for  the  faithfulness  of  all 
management,  and  to  our  keeping  for  the  most  inviolable  of  all 
custody."  Thus  Chalmers  wrote  of  the  merchants  of  his 
country  ;  but  we  may  adopt  his  language  for  our  own. 

Yet  giving  to  commerce  all  its  due,  the  life  of  an  intelligent 
being  should  have  far  higher  ends  than  those  the  pursuits  of 
business  can  immediately  promise.  If  immortality  beyond 
the  grave  be  not  all  a  dream,  it  will  be  to  those  who  are  pre- 
pared to  enter  it,  an  immortality  of  mind  and  affection,  where 
the  grosser  influences  of  the  body,  its  low  necessities  and  ani- 
mal pleasures,  which  demand  so  much  of  present  care  and 
toil  and  time,  shall  be  unknown  forever.  There  we  shall 
neither  plough,  nor  weave,  nor  buy,  nor  sell.  There  the 
miserable  arithmetic  of  dollars  and  cents  shall  have  no  place. 
Knowledge  shall  be  the  desire  and  pursuit  of  the  soul,  and 
holy  love  employ  the  willing  activity  of  all  its  powers.  It 
must  be,  then,  that  as  life  is  but  the  season  of  preparation  for 
immortality,  the  right  pursuit  of  knowledge,  and  cultivation  of 
the  heart,  are  the  true  methods  of  making  life  profitable. 
Religion  teaches  this  from  every  page  of  the  inspired  volume. 
The  end  of  her  regeneration  is  to  quicken  within  us  a  nobler 
life  than  fallen  nature  gives  us  —  to  make  the  soul  conqueror 
of  the  body,  which  has  revolted  from  its  rule  and  held  it  in 
chains.  The  end  of  her  faith  is  by  the  manifestation  of  spiritual 
and  eternal  treasures,  to  win  our  heart  from  the  pursuit  of  those 
objects  of  sense  which  perish  in  the  using,  and  the  end  of  her 
morality  the  practice  of  that  holy  affection,  though  in  the 
lower  forms  of  which  only  we  now  are  capable,  which  shall  be 
the  occupation  of  eternity.  "  Ye  are  not  of  the  world,  but  I 
6* 


66  LEISURE ITS   USES   AND   ABUSES. 

have  chosen  you  out  of  the  world,"  is  the  language  of  Him  who 
"  brought  life  and  immortality  to  light"  by  the  Gospel,  con- 
cerning all  who  through  him  "  look  for  glory  and  honor." 

But  they  greatly  mistake  the  spirit  of  Christianity,  who 
make  it  to  consist  in  mystical  abstractions  and  formal  ceremo- 
nies.    No  knowledge  nor  seeming  morality,  without  the  love 
of  God,  and  faith  in  Christ,  will  prepare  us  for  the  ordeal  of  the 
judgment,  and  admission  to  the  skies.     The  kingdom  of  God 
must  first  be  reestablished  in  the  heart ;  yet  when  that  king- 
dom is  acknowledged  and  that  faith  professed,  every  advance 
in  true  knowledge,  and  every  application  of  knowledge  to  true 
usefulness,  is  an  additional  preparation  for  our  spiritual  im- 
mortality.    True  science  is  the  knowledge  of  things  in  their 
causes ;  and  the  knowledge  of  the  Great  First  Cause  is  the 
end  and  height  of  science.     But  He,  who  has  caused  the  holy 
Scriptures  to  be  "  written  for  our  learning"  of  Him,  has  also 
given  us  His  book  of  Nature,  and  every  demonstration  of 
science  should  be  regarded  by  us  as  a  step  of  that  ladder,  by 
which  the  student  of  earth  may  ascend  towards  the  presence  of 
God  in  heaven.     It  is  this  which  gives  to  science  its  dignity 
and  value.     Its  only  worthy  subject  should  be  lasting  as  the 
soul  itself,  enduring  when  the  minerals,  the  animals,  the  vege- 
tables, and  the  elements,  about  which  philosophy  now  inquires, 
shall  pass  away  and  be  no  more,  but  the  soul  survive.     The 
name  of  philosophy  has  been  abused,  and  men  have  accounted 
themselves  philosophers  while  studying  the  habits  of  an  insect's 
life,  classifying  the  refuse  shells  which  ocean  casts  upon  its 
shores,  discovering  the  properties  of  stones  and  plants,  search- 
ing and  comparing  the  anatomy  of  animal  frames,  or  endeav- 


LEISURE  —  ITS   USES   AND   ABUSES.  67 

oring  (for  after  all,  metaphysical  science  is  but  an  endeavor) 
to  analyze  the  powers  of  the  human  mind,  while  the  idea  of 
the  great  Author  has  scarcely  entered  their  minds,  and  they 
have  taken  not  one  step  toward  communion  with  Him.  Mere 
worldly  utility,  the  passing  mental  pleasure  of  investigation, 
or  fame  of  new  discoveries,  are  the  perishing  and  grovelling 
aims  of  such  philosophy,  falsely  so  called.  The  true  end  of 
science  is  above  all  these.  It  is  the  elevation  of  the  soul 
above  earth,  the  spiritualizing  of  the  heart  from  the  influ- 
ences of  mere  sense,  and  the  education  of  immortal  man  for 
that  eternal  converse  with  his  God  face  to  face,  "  where  he 
shall  know  even  as  he  is  known."  To  terminate  science  in 
that  which  is  merely  immediately  useful,  or  to  count  its  worth 
merely  by  its  sordid  gains,  is  to  make  reason  no  better  than 
instinct  of  a  wider  range,  and  the  faculties  of  the  soul  servants 
of  the  senses.  When  death  comes,  when  in  the  final  catas- 
trophe all  these  things  shall  pass  away,  such  science  will  ap- 
pear to  have  been  but  a  laborious  folly,  and  such  philosophy 
the  idle  vagaries  of  an  idiot's  dream.  This  is  no  religious 
cant,  no  prejudiced  fanaticism  of  a  narrow-minded  preacher. 
It  has  been  the  theory  of  a  just  philosophy  in  all  ages.  Per- 
mit me  to  quote  the  testimony  of  Cicero,  the  best  ethical  writer 
of  the  Latin,  a  scholar  of  the  school  of  Socrates ;  and  in  the 
glowing  translation  of  one  who  has  proved,  by  a  recent  ad- 
dress before  a  learned  society,  that  he  has  not  studied  him  in 
vain,  (I  refer  to  Professor  Tayler  Lewis,  and  his  discourse  be- 
fore the  Phi  Beta  Kappa  of  Union  College,)  "  He  that  knows 
himself  will  know  that  he  has  within  him  something  divine, 
as  it  were  a  shrine  and  image  of  the  Deity,  consecrated  and 


68  LEISURE ITS   USES   AND   ABUSES. 

devoted  to  him.  Thus  taught  to  believe,  he  will  act  worthy 
of  so  great  a  gift ;  and  when  he  hath  thoroughly  understood 
for  what  end  he  hath  been  brought  upon  the  theatre  of  life, 
when  he  beholds  in  the  principles  of  things  everywhere  shad- 
owed forth  images  of  everlasting  ideas  ;  when  thus  prepared, 
he  turns  to  the  study  of  nature,  the  land,  the  seas,  the  origin 
of  all  things,  from  whence  they  came,  to  what  ends  they  con- 
duce, what  in  the  system  of  things  is  mortal  and  perishing, 
what  is  divine  and  eternal ;  when  in  the  study  of  these,  he 
learns  to  regard  himself,  not  as  surrounded  by  the  walls  of 
one  city,  but  as  an  inhabitant  of  the  universe :  in  this  magni- 
ficence of  things,  this  comprehending  view  and  recognition  of 
universal  nature,  how  will  he  then  know  himself?  how  will 
he  contemn,  how  will  he  look  down  upon,  how  will  he 
count  as  nothing,  those  things  which  are  commonly  esteemed 
the  greatest  or  most  useful  among  mankind  ?"  and  yet,  asks 
the  indignant  reprover  of  a  base  utilitarianism,  who  has  ex- 
hibited higher  practical  energy  than  Cicero  ? 

Can  any  one  doubt  that  the  science  of  Newton,  the  peer- 
less prince  of  all  investigators  of  God's  lessons  in  nature,  ac- 
companied with  the  most  childlike  faith,  and  lowly  following 
of  the  Redeemer,  increased  his  fitness  for  that  sphere  to  which 
the  God  with  whom  he  had  so  long  walked,  took  him  at  death  ? 
and  if  so,  does  Newton,  now  before  the  throne  of  the  Lamb 
that  was  slain,  estimate  the  value  of  that  science  for  its  useful- 
ness in  navigation,  or  the  convenience  of  calculating  eclipses, 
or  any  temporary  end?  No,  if  it  be  not  forgotten  by  him 
among  the  meridian  brightness  of  heaven's  intellectual  and 
loving  joys,  he  accounts  it  to  have  been  precious  only  so  far 


LEISURE  —  ITS   USES   AND   ABUSES.  69 

as  it  assisted  him,  and  may  assist  others,  in  preparing,  by  ex- 
pansive thought  and  lofty  pursuits,  for  the  soul's  true  home,  a 
heaven  of  perfect  happiness,  because  a  heaven  of  perfect 
knowledge  and  perfect  love. 

Commerce,  then,  or  any  pursuit  which  is  usually  called 
business,  is  unworthy  of  being  considered  the  proper  occupa- 
tion of  life.  It  is  only  necessary  to  provide  or  to  procure  the 
means  of  living.  The  time  devoted  to  it  should  be  consid- 
ered as  a  tax  upon  our  immortal  being,  laid  upon  us  by  the 
necessities  of  that  curse  which  sin  brought  with  it  into  our 
world.  If  so,  the  leisure  which  the  necessities  of  business  al- 
low, becomes  incalculably  more  precious,  as  being  the  only 
season  when  we  can  devote  ourselves  mainly  and  exclusively 
to  the  great  end  of  our  being.  For  though  there  is  no  honest 
pursuit  of  life  in  which  we  may  not  serve  God  and  our  fellow 
men,  no  man  is  fitted  for  the  practice  of  virtue  merely  by  prac- 
tice ;  he  must  in  hours  of  rest  study  its  theory,  contemplate  its 
ends,  and  wisely  gird  himself  for  the  toil. 

If  there  be  one  hei'e,  (though  I  am  sure  there  is  not,)  who 
has  no  higher  ambition  than  to  be  a  mere  man  of  business,  a 
mere  slave  of  men's  bodily  necessities,  a  mere  idolater  of  his 
own  purse ;  to  have  his  life  but  a  thing  of  cotton  bags  and  to- 
bacco hogsheads,  druggets  and  dowlasses,  madder  and  fustic, 
town  lots,  bank  stocks,  and  exchanges  ;  his  mind  like  the  ad- 
vertising side  of  a  daily  gazette,  or  the  weekly  Prices  Cur- 
rent ;  the  sum  of  his  life,  the  balance  sheet  of  his  leger ;  and 
who  estimates  his  worth  by  the  dollars  and  cents  which  re- 
main to  his  credit,  who  would  choose  for  his  immortality  one 
eternal  "Wall  street,  and  give  up  a  crown  of  glory  to  be  called 


70  LEISURE ITS   USES   AND    ABUSES. 

the  best  man  upon  "change"  —  if  there  be  such  an  one,  he 
may  despise  those  moments  of  leisure  which  business  spares, 
waste  them  in  sinful  sleep,  lounge  them  away  in  vapid  amuse- 
ments, dawdle  over  ephemeral  magazines,  or  newspaper  re- 
ports of  police  causes  and  shocking  accidents,  squabble  in  the 
low  arena  of  party  politics,  exhaust  his  breath  in  blowing  up 
every  bubble  of  popular  excitement,  lisp  idle  gallantries  in 
ladies'  ears,  who  in  their  soul  despise  such  emptiness,  and  but 
tolerate  the  fool  as  they  do  a  pet  dog  or  a  parrot,  for  want  of 
better  company;  or  perhaps  do  worse,  in  vulgar  debauche- 
ries.    He  may  despise  leisui'e  and  so  waste  it,  but  he  must 
take  the  consequences  in  this  world  and  the  next.     A  mere 
merchant !  a  mere  man  of  business !     Who  would  be  content 
with  such  a  designation  ?  what  respect  can  one  feel  for  such 
a  character?     All  he  gets  from  the  world   is  the  credit  of 
being  worth  so  much  dross,  a  little  fawning  servility  from 
those  who  wish  to  borrow  of  him  or  owe  him  already,  or  the 
wondering  calculation  of  how  much  his  heirs  will  divide  among 
them  when  he  leaves  his  wealth  behind  him  with  his  rotting 
body.     "Were  I  such  a  man,  I  would  wish  my  name  to  die 
with  me,  and  would  ask  neither  marble  nor  granite,  nor  the 
venal  page,  to  preserve  the  memory  of  my  sordid  selfishness. 
Let  it  perish  like  the  thistle  cut  down  by  the  mower's  scythe, 
or  the  dry  muUen  that  decays  on  the  barren  hill  side. 

But  there  is  a  true  grandeur,  which  though  we  cannot  reach, 
we  must  admire  and  may  emulate,  in  him  who  devotes  the 
energies  of  a  well  stored  mind  to  the  pursuit  of  commerce, 
that  the  fruits  of  noble  enterprise  may  enable  him  to  follow 
the  bent  of  his  disposition  in  the  spread  of  knowledge,  and  the 


LEISURE  —  ITS   USES   AND   ABUSES.  71 

liberalities  of  a  wide  philanthropy;  who  can  shake  off  the 
meaner  jealousies  of  trade  with  the  dust  of  his  warehouse ; 
who  leaves  behind  him  the  idolatries  of  covetousness  well 
pleased  to  enter  the  populous  solitude  of  his  library  and  hold 
communion  with  the  mighty  dead,  to  join  the  social  circle  and 
brighten  the  glow  of  cheerful  but  rational  converse  by  the 
warmth  of  his  own  intelligence,  or  to  mingle  with  the  evening 
crowd,  who  meet  to  devise  and  prosecute  new  plans  for  doing 
good  to  his  countrymen  and  the  world;  whose  walls  are 
adorned  with  works  of  native  art,  acquired  by  a  price  which 
has  cheered  the  child  of  genius  in  his  lone  enthusiasm ;  at 
whose  table  and  hearthstone  the  scholar  and  the  man  of  science 
is  a  welcome  and  delighted  guest,  and  whom  religion  claims 
as  her  consistent  and  beneficent  follower.  Like  a  noble  tree, 
whose  roots  are  struck  deep  in  the  fruitful  earth,  he  stands  in 
a  gigantic  strength,  his  higher  arms  aspiring  to  heaven,  while 
the  poor,  the  sorrowful,  and  the  friendless,  find  shelter  and 
food  beneath  the  shadow  of  his  wide  branches.  There  are 
such  men,  such  merchants,  such  men  of  business  —  rare  in- 
deed, but  yet  some.  I  need  not  quote  the  names  of  the  dead. 
There  are  men  now  living,  living  among  you.  For  their  sakes 
let  commerce  be  vindicated.  Their  charity  will  cover  a  mul- 
titude of  its  sins,  and  their  honorable  fidelity  redeem  a  city  from 
destruction,  though  it  were  a  Sodom  or  Gomorrah.  Let  such 
men  be  your  examples,  they  are  'the  beacon  lights  which  at 
once  warn  you  of  the  dangers  in  your  course,  and  guide  you 
to  the  sure  haven  of  a  self-approving  peace  and  eternal  joy. 

The  first  rule  I  would  then  give  for  the  use  of  leisure  as 
not  abusing  it,  is  to  set  before  yourselves  pure  and  no- 
ble AIMS. 


72  LEISURE ITS   USES   AND    ABUSES. 

Let  the  pursuit  of  gain  be  your  necessity ;  the  pursuit  of 
knowledge  and  virtue,  and  religion,  your  delight  and  your  re- 
ward. Regard  successful  labors  in  business  as  only  valuable 
because  they  supply  you  with  means  of  prosecuting  your  lofty 
ends. 

Avoid  the  degrading  error  of  a  mere  personal  ambition  ; 
ambition  is  a  healthful  stimulant,  when  duly  mingled  with  be- 
nevolence towards  man  and  piety  towards  God ;  but  when  all 
its  struggles,  and  pains,  and  toils,  terminate  in  self,  it  is  but 
selfishness.  To  acquire  money  merely  to  say  it  is  your  own, 
to  spread  feasts  for  flattering  parasites,  to  fling  open  gorgeous- 
ly decorated  halls,  that  well  dressed  crowds  may  admire  and 
envy,  or  to  roll  in  sumptuous  equipages  that  the  vulgar  pedes- 
trians, spattered  by  the  wheels,  may  gape  and  wonder,  is  but 
one  remove  from  miserly  meanness,  which  starves  the  stomach 
to  fatten  the  purse.  The  industrious  artisan  reaps  his  profits 
from  the  prices  of  extravagance,  but  the  bosom  of  the  pom- 
pous purse-proud  fool  can  receive  no  merited  delight  from  a 
result  his  heart  never  proposed.  In  the  same  light  are  we  to 
regard  an  ostentation  of  benevolence  to  the  poor,  patronage 
to  the  arts,  or  assistance  to  science  or  literature.  The  accla- 
mations of  the  crowd,  the  newspaper  eulogium,  the  servile  ded- 
ication, or  the  columns  of  a  charity  report,  (the  more  than  bra- 
zen trumpet  of  modern  Pharisaism,)  can  yield  the  hypocrite 
no  genuine  pleasure.  Conscience,  Avhose  honest  rebuke  no 
bribe  can  blush,  no  applauses  drown,  no  rhetoric  deceive,  points 
to  a  frowning  God,  whose  eyes  pierce  the  intents  of  the  rotten 
heart,  and  declares :  "  Verily  thou  hast  thy  reward !"  and  the 
wretch  confesses  in  his  secret  thought :    "  This  also  is  vanity." 


LEISURE  —  ITS    USES   AND   ABUSES.  73 

Scarcely  better  is  the  pursuit  of  literary  or  scientific  dis- 
tinction for  its  own  sake.  It  most  frequently  defeats  itself. 
Eagerness  of  new  discoveries,  anxiety  to  lead  in  some  new 
path,  impatience  for  the  acquisition  of  fame,  proud  unwilling- 
ness to  submit  to  others'  teaching,  all  tend  to  the  adoption  of 
startling  but  crude  hypotheses,  oversight  of  true  facts,  and 
neglect  of  careful  induction,  glaring  extravagance,  or  quaint 
affectation  of  style ;  and  the  pretender,  after  strutting  a  brief 
hour  in  fancied  greatness,  is  hissed  from  the  stage  to  a  de- 
served but  more  infamous  oblivion  than  he  would  have  avoid- 
ed. Though  even  before  such  a  catastrophe,  envy  of  other 
men's  success  may  have  disfigured  his  semblance  of  mind,  or 
an  insisting  egotism  covetous  of  praise,  but  unwilling  to  ac- 
quire it  except  by  demands,  roused  the  furies  of  public  scorn 
to  "  lash  him  naked  through  the  world." 

Love  knowledge  for  herself,  love  honor  for  its  own  blessed 
consciousness,  love  religion  as  the  messenger-angel  to  conduct 
you  to  your  God,  and  charity  as  her  attendant  handmaid,  who 
scatters  flowers  over  the  arid  sands  of  human  experience,  and 
they  will  so  reward  you,  that  ambition  itself  shall  say,  "  It  is 
enough." 

Let  me  repeat  a  caution  I  have  before  hinted.  Estimate 
not  the  value  of  results  by  their  immediate  usefulness ;  this 
would  be  to  centre  all  in  the  present  moment,  or  at  least  in 
the  present  life.  Good  is  rarely  great  which  can  be  accom- 
plished at  once.  All  that  can  be  seen  in  this  life,  bears  but 
a  mean  proportion  to  the  profits  of  eternity.  We  must  ad- 
venture our  whole  capital,  and  be  willing  to  lose  its  present 
interest,  if  we  would  find  the  treasure  increased  an  hundred 
fold  in  heaven. 


74  LEISUBE  —  ITS   USES   AND   ABUSES. 

"  Man  soweth  here  witli  toil  and  care, 
But  the  harvest  time  of  love  is  there." 

There  is  a  joy  in  study  in  the  calm  hour  of  seclusion,  where 
we  are  "  alone,  and  yet  not  alone,  for  the  Father  is  with  us," 
a  joy  that  no  stranger  intermeddleth  with,  which 

"  An  age  outweighs 


Of  stupid  starers  and  of  loud  huzzas." 

There  is  a  joy  in  worth,  the  consciousness  of  self-command, 
of  high  purposes,  of  a  free  conscience,  and  an  approving  God, 
which  no  applauses  of  the  wox"ld  can  equal,  and  no  injustice 
of  the  world  can  take  away. 

There  is  a  joy  in  religion,  a  calm  intercourse  is  opened  with 
heaven ;  and  the  hope  of  its  immortal  blessedness  stimulates 
us  to  pursue  the  often  rugged  path  of  present  duty,  and  so- 
laces the  pangs  of  present  sorrow. 

Be  content,  even  if  you  can  gain  nothing  more,  with  the  ed- 
ucation of  your  spirit,  by  the  cultivation  of  your  mind  and  the 
cultivation  of  your  heart,  for  that  sphere  where  God  designs  it 
shall  have  its  largest  expansion  and  highest  bliss. 

The  second  rule  I  would  suggest  for  the  right  cultivation  of 
leisure  is,  a  courageous  belief  that  much  lies  within 

TOUR  capabilities. 

The  time  was,  when  knowledge  and  its  precious  fruits  were, 
like  power,  the  birthright  of  the  few,  and  when  the  scanty  and 
high-priced  scrolls,  upon  which  the  slow  pen  of  the  transcriber 
had  recorded  the  words  of  wisdom,  could  be  bought  only  by 
those  who  were  under  the  necessity  of  no  other  toil.     Blessed 


LEISURE  —  ITS   USES   AND   ABUSES.  75 

be  God !  this  is  no  longer  the  case.     Knowledge  is  as  com- 
mon to  all  who  desire  to  enjoy  her  life-giving  virtues,  as  the 
air  we  breathe  and  the  water  which  we  drink.     Literature, 
and  even  science,  have  been  known  to  flourish  best  with  those 
who  have  been  born  to  few  advantages,  and  have  not  made  it 
their  sole  profession.     Nay,  there  seems  to  be  often  an  almost 
fantastic  incongruity  between  the  favorite  and  most  successful 
studies  of  some  men,  and  their  declared  pursuits.     The  best 
ethical  writer  of  Great  Britain  in  the  present  time  is  Aber- 
crombie,  who  closes  a  day  of  immense  toil  in  medical  practice 
with  happy  meditations  upon  metaphysical  themes ;  while  not 
a  few  of  those  most  eminent  in  the  same  kingdom  for  physi- 
cal science,  are  thoroughly  educated  theologians.     Drew,  the 
admu'able  author  of  treatises  upon  the  resurrection,  the  im- 
mortality of  the  soul,  and  kindred  subjects,  was  a  working 
shoemaker,  who  first  essayed  to  pursue  physical  science,  but 
abandoned  the  attempt  from  the  want  of  money  to  purchase  ap- 
paratus, and  time  to  make  experiments,  and  devoted  himself  to 
subjects  which  he  could  analyze  within  the  laboratory  of  his 
own  brain,  and  investigate  while  he  sat  upon  his  bench  and 
drew  the  wax  thread.     The  writer  of  EHa,  the  late  Charles 
Lamb,  earned  (to  use  an  illustration  of  a  brother  lecturer  in 
another  city)  his  peculiar  reputation  during  three  and  thirty 
years  of  service  as  a  merchant's  clerk,  "  chained,"  as  he  feel- 
ingly expressed  it,  "  to  the  desk's  dull  wood,"  and  this  in  a 
narrow  lane  of  smoky,  drizzling,  ever  sombre  London.     Ros- 
coe,  it  is  well  knoAvn,  was  engaged  either  in  legal  or  commer- 
cial pursuits,  while  he  wrote  the  lives  of  the  two  Medici.     He 
was,  it  is  true,  as  Washington  Irving  has  told  us  in  the  Sketch 


76  LEISURE ITS    USES   AND   ABUSES. 

Book,  unfortunate  in  business,  but  it  was  from  other  causes 
than  incapacity  for  business,  or  neglect  of  it. 

Speaking  of  Washington  Irving,  reminds  me,  by  the  way, 
that  I  was  told  by  a  mere  man  of  business  in  Liverpool,  that 
he  knew  my  countryman,  Mr.  Irving,  while  he  was  attempt- 
ing commercial  pursuits  in  that  city  ;  but,  said  he,  with  a  do- 
lorous shake  of  the  head,  which  showed  what  was  uppermost 
in  his  estimation,  "  he  did'nt  get  on,  sir,  he  did'nt  get  on." 
Thank  God !  he  did'nt  get  on. 

Indeed,  men  of  leisure,  as  they  are  termed,  ai"e  rarely 
known  to  attain  greatness.  Their  time  is  frittered  away  in 
trifles,  resolutions,  and  procrastinations.  They  lack  the  habit 
of  industry  which  occupation  teaches,  and  are  exposed  to  a 
thousand  temptations  men  of  business  never  know,  the  force 
of  sluggishness  being  the  worst  of  all.  The  stagnant  pool  will 
become  muddy  and  foul,  and  perhaps  mischievous  to  the  health 
of  its  neighborhood  ;  but  the  rapid  stream  runs  sparkling  and 
clear,  and,  having  turned  the  mill  which  grinds  the  bread, 
may  water  the  meadows  with  their  thousand  flowers,  and  wash 
the  wing  of  many  a  joyous  bird  as  he  carols  in  his  sport. 

It  is,  therefore,  a  great  mistake,  that  literature  or  intellec- 
tual pursuits  of  any  kind  must  be  attached  to  what  is  termed 
professional  hfe.  Governor  Everett,  in  a  recent  speech, 
which  you  have  all  probably  read,  gives  an  account  of  a  work- 
ing blacksmith,  who  had  acquired  a  knowledge  of  fifty  lan- 
guages in  his  hours  of  leisure.*  (Without  knowing  more  of 
that  industrious  person,  I  would  hardly  recommend  his  exam- 
ple in  all  things,  for  though  my  suspicions  may  be  unfounded, 

*  The  since  famous  Elihu  Burritt. 


LEISURE  —  ITS   USES   AND   ABUSES.  77 

I  cannot  help  thinking  that  some  of  that  time  had  been  better 
spent  in  acquiring  the  knowledge  a  few  of  those  languages 
contained,  than  in  learning  the  grammars  and  vocabularies  of 
the  rest.)  Sir  William  Jones  had  acquired  more  than  thirty, 
(including  dialects  of  India,)  though  he  died  in  his  forty-ninth 
year,  was  chained  to  the  bench  at  least  eight  hours  a  day  for 
a  long  period,  and  yet  left  behind  him,  besides  some  valuable 
writings,  including  a  volume  of  delightful  lyric  poetry,  the 
product  of  the  leisure  hours  of  his  leisure,  Calvin,  Luther, 
and  John  Wesley,  were  all  very  voluminous  writers,  and  up- 
on profound  subjects,  although,  when  we  remember  the  inces- 
sant journeyings  and  labors  they  went  through,  it  is  difficult 
to  imagine  how  they  found  time  to  preserve  even  the  chain 
of  friendly  correspondence. 

Let  no  man  say,  then,  he  has  no  time,  and  no  opportunities 
for  study,  because  he  is  a  man  of  business.  I  wish  in  my 
heart  that  young  men,  who  toil  amidst  the  drudgery  of  mer- 
cantile pursuits  for  the  gains  of  others,  had  more  time  allowed 
them  by  arrangements  upon  the  part  of  their  employers.  It 
is  a  sad  tyranny  that  exacts  so  large  a  portion  of  their  daily 
time,  to  say  nothing  of  extraordinary  but  not  unfrequent  en- 
gagements. Yet  no  young  man  need  despair  of  accomplish- 
ing much,  if  he  have  the  courageous  confidence  to  attempt 
much,  and  persevere.  It  is  better,  incomparably  better,  to 
accomplish  something,  than  idly  to  endeavor  after  nothing. 

This  brings  me  to  a  third  rule  for  the  redemption  of  leisure, 

A  CAREFUL  ECONOMY  IN  THE  DISPOSITION  OF  IT. 

When  we  regard  our  fragments  of  time  separately,  they 
seem  indeed  small,  and  offer  little  encouragement  to  think 
7* 


78  LEISURE ITS   USES   AND    ABUSES. 

much  can  be  done  with  them ;  but,  when  we  add  them  to- 
gether, their  aggregate  may  be  very  precious.  Like  the  par- 
ticles of  gold  dust,  to  which  I  alluded  in  an  early  part  of  this 
lecture,  each  may  be  almost  beneath  estimation ;  yet  as  that 
gold  dust,  thrown  together  into  the  crucible,  forms  the  bar 
from  which  many  a  coin  is  made,  so  our  leisure  economically 
gathered  and  applied,  will  supply  us  with  current  and  sterling 
thoughts,  which  we  may  employ  in  enriching  others,  while  we 
enrich  ourselves. 

Abandon  the  habit  of  procrastination  —  postpone  no  valua- 
ble purpose  to  a  more  convenient  season,  nor  idly  dream,  as 
some  have  done,  that  when  the  busy  toil  of  years  has  won  the 
reward  of  competence,  you  will  then  have  free  scope  and  op- 
portunity for  higher  engagements.  Youth  is  the  only  season 
for  the  formation  of  intellectual  habit.  The  sinews  of  the 
mind,  like  those  of  the  body,  soon  become  stiff  and  unpliable. 
It  would  be  as  easy  for  the  leopard  to  change  his  spots,  or  the 
Ethiopian  his  skin,  as  for  one  who  had  spent  the  greater  part 
of  his  life  in  entire  idolatry  of  business,  to  lay  aside  his  invet- 
erate taste,  tendencies,  and  customs,  for  the  calm  retirement, 
and  inward  satisfactions,  and  self-sustaining  pleasures  of  study 
and  thought.  There  are  few  more  pitiable  characters,  than 
theirs,  who,  without  any  qualification  for  a  profitable  employ- 
ment of  leisure,  have  in  an  evil  hour  given  up  business  by 
which  they  have  reahzed  sufficient  fortunes,  with  the  vain 
hope  of  enjoying  freedom  from  its  laborious  exactions.  The 
toils  and  anxieties  which  they  would  put  away,  have  become 
necessary  to  their  existence.  The  vacant  hours  hang  heavy 
cm  their  hands,  and  their  heart  is  in  the  bustling  world  from 


LEISURE  —  ITS   USES   AJSTD   ABUSES.  79 

which  they  profess  to  have  retired.  For  a  few  weeks  they 
may  be  missed  from  their  accustomed  haunts,  but  it  is  soon  to 
reappear  like  uneasy  spirits  amidst  the  scenes  of  former  life, 
lounging  among  insurance  offices  and  bank  parlors,  meditating 
prices  when  they  have  nothing  to  sell,  eagerly  engaging  in 
the  business  gossip  of  the  day,  wondering  why  the  expected 
packet  does  not  arrive,  though  its  arrival  promises  them  nei- 
ther consignments  nor  remittances,  and  finding  no  solace  for 
the  widowhood  of  their  hearts  from  their  first  and  only  love, 
but  in  shaving  notes,  speculating  in  stocks,  and  bidding  at 
land  sales ;  and  like 

"  The  phantom  knight,  his  glory  fled, 
"Who  mourns  the  field  he  heaped  with  dead, 
Mounts  the  wild  blast  that  sweeps  amain ; 
Or  chief  whose  antique  crownlet  long, 
Still  sparkled  in  the  feudal  song, 
Now,  from'  the  mountain's  misty  throne, 
Sees  in  the  thraldom  once  his  own, 
His  ashes  undistinguished  lie. 
His  place,  his  power,  his  memory,  die." 

So  they  linger  sorrowfully  among  those  who  once  acknowl- 
edged their  power  and  skill,  but  now  thrust  them  aside  as 
bores  and  troublers  of  busier  men ;  or,  like  the  Ghouls  of 
eastern  fable,  though  dead  themselves,  can  yet  suck  the  life- 
blood  of  the  living  by  usurious  exactions. 

If  you  would  enjoy  intellectual  pleasures  after  the  necessi- 
ties of  other  toil  has  ceased,  you  must  prepare  for  it  by  the 
assiduous  cultivation  of  your  previous  leisure. 


80  LEISURE ITS   USES   AND   ABUSES. 

Energetic  industry  in  the  use  of  the  few  moments  of  leisure 
we  may  have,  is  necessary  to  economy  of  time. 

It  is  a  well  known  fact,  that  when  the  powers  of  the  mind 
are  zealously  given  to  any  matter,  more  may  be  accomplished 
in  a  few  hours,  than  sluggish  effort  will  reach  in  many  days. 
Much  pains  and  practice  are  necessary  to  acquire  sufficient 
mastery  over  our  faculties,  to  give  them  this  directness  and 
intensity  of  application,  yet,  where  there  is  generous  enthu- 
siasm for  the  attainment  of  worthy  ends,  it  may  be  secured  by 
pains  and  practice ;  and  as  a  man  of  business,  the  moment  he 
enters  his  office  in  the  morning,  and  breathes  its  air,  can,  al- 
most without  an  effort,  shut  out  everything  but  business  from 
his  thoughts,  so  wiU  the  intellectual  aspirant  learn  to  assume 
all  the  spirit  of  the  student  the  moment  he  opens  his  books  or 
takes  up  his  pen.  With  what  ease  does  the  physician  pass 
from  the  anxieties  of  one  sick  room  to  those  of  another,  or  the 
lawyer  turn  the  force  of  his  talents  to  one  case  after  another, 
or  the  merchant  settle  in  the  course  of  a  single  day  the  risks 
and  probabilities  of  many  operations.  It  requires  little  more 
habit  and  effort  to  change  the  occupation  of  the  mind  from 
business  to  study,  and  study  again  to  business.  The  mind 
needs  relief  it  is  true,  but  the  best  rehef  is  not  entire  relaxa- 
tion, but  alternation  of  pursuit ;  entire  rest,  except  when  the 
body  needs  the  repose  of  slumber  is  the  worst  torture  of  an 
active  spirit. 

But  industry  will  avail  us  little  without  system.  Our  plan 
must  be  intelligently  decided  upon,  and  then  steadily  pursued. 
The  swiftest  runner  attains  the  goal  by  successive  steps,  and 
though  each  interval  of  leisure  may  not  be  sufficient  to  make 


LEISURE  —  ITS   USES   AND   ABUSES.  81 

much  progi'ess,  we  may  pursue  as  long  as  it  lasts  the  right 
direction,  and  resume  it  when  another  interval  occurs.  This 
steady  perseverance,  which  is  compatible  only  with  system, 
will  in  the  end  accomplish  more  than  the  most  violent  spas- 
modic eflPorts,  disconnected  from  each  other  from  the  want  of 
a  plan.  There  is  on  record  the  instance  of  a  studious  man, 
who,  jBnding  that  he  was  called  to  his  dinner  every  day  a  few 
minutes  before  it  was  ready,  devoted  those  few  minutes  to  the 
wx'iting  of  a  work,  which  in  the  process  of  time  swelled  to 
some  goodly  volumes ;  a  striking  hint  to  us  to  save  the  min- 
utes, that  hours  be  not  lost ;  for  though  it  may  seem  a  mere 
truism,  it  is  often  forgotten,  that  an  hour  a  day  is  fifteen  days 
in  a  year,  and  in  twenty-four  years,  a  year. 

Be  not  then  vacillating  in  your  purposes.  Let  not  every 
bright  meteor  that  shoots  across  your  path,  attract  you  to  new 
aims.  This  would  be  to  make  your  life  but  as  whirling  sands 
borne  about  by  every  fickle  wind.  Few  men  are  great  or 
useful  in  many  pursuits  of  different  nature,  for  though  we  do 
read  of  the  "  admirable  Crichton,"  who  was  skilled  in  every 
known  accomplishment,  language,  art,  and  science,  he  has  left 
behind  him  no  valuable  proofs  that  he  was  useful  in  anything ; 
and  we  have  a  common  saying,  that  "  a  man  of  many  trades 
is  good  at  none."  Be  not  satisfied  with  doing  anything  till 
you  have  done  it  well,  and  then  you  will  have  at  least  the 
satisfaction  of  having  done  nothing  ill. 

These  rules  being  acknowledged  to  be  just,  there  is  little 
need  of  stating  formally  another,  to  devote  our  leisure  to  such 
occupation  as  is  the  most  valuable. 

If  our  leisure  is  to  be  industrious,  our  industry  should  be  so 


82  LEISURE  —  ITS    USES   AKD   ABUSES. 

directed  as  to  secure  the  greatest  profit.  There  is  a  choice  in 
reading.  I  will  not  enter  into  any  argument  to  prove  the 
mischievous  character  of  romantic  and  fictitious  writings. 
Fables  are  often  instructive.  Our  Saviour  taught  much  in 
parables ;  and  as  a  scholar  and  a  lover  of  books,  I  would  be 
sorry  to  bum  the  "  Pilgrim's  Progress."  True  pictures  of 
the  human  heart,  and  exhibitions  of  safe  and  moral  practice, 
are  often  found  in  the  supposed  life  and  adventures  of  imagi- 
nary characters.  Good  poetry  is  but  a  higher  order  of  meta- 
physics and  moral  teaching.  But  I  put  it  to  your  own  judg- 
ment, whether  the  reading  of  fiction  generally  is  the  most 
valuable  use  a  man  of  little  leisure  can  make  of  his  little  time. 
One,  whose  sole  pursuit  is  of  an  intellectual  character,  may 
have  some  faint  excuse  for  thus  unbending  his  overstrained 
mind,  which  must  be  seduced,  as  it  were,  from  the  fever  of 
thought ;  but  for  him  who  has  but  a  few  hours  in  the  day  or 
week,  to  follow  highwaymen  and  fops,  with  Bulwer,  through 
low  crimes  and  silly  affectations,  or  revel  in  imagination 
amidst  gorgeous  scenes  of  foreign  and  aristocratic  fashion,  as 
described  by  the  volumes  of  trash  the  modern  press  vomits 
upon  our  shores,  is  madness  in  the  extreme.  It  is  the  sure 
way  to  unfit  him  for  the  actual  world  in  which  he  lives,  and 
where  his  duties  lie. 

Newspapers  are  also  sad  thieves  of  time.  I  speak  in  no 
disparagement  of  the  many  able  gentlemen  who  cater  for  our 
daily  tastes ;  the  fault  is  rather  in  their  readers,  upon  whose 
favors  they  live.  But,  ordinarily,  the  columns  of  our  daily 
prints  contain  little  that  is  worthy  of  perusal  by  a  man  in- 
quiring after  valuable  knowledge.     Distorted  political  state- 


LEISUEE  —  ITS   USES   AND   ABUSES.  83 

ments,  squabbles  between  rival  editors,  beginning  in  wit  and 
ending  often  in  low  abuse,  accounts  of  shocking  accidents,  and 
police  reports  of  vulgar  crimes,  sometimes  (alas !)  prurient 
scandal,  and  mawkish  attempts  at  sentiment,  make  up  much 
of  their  morning  and  evening  offerings.     It  is  often  boasted 
that  we  have  in  this  country  such  a  vast  number  of  daily  and 
other  newspapers.     Their  number  is  rather  a  curse  than  a 
blessing.     Condense  the  scattered  talents  of  the  many  into  a 
few ;  make  by  such  aggregation  of  patronage  as  would  place 
those  few  above  all  casual  necessities,  and  make  intelligent 
editors  recipients  of  such  rewards  as  their  talents  deserve ; 
allow  a  rational  freedom  to  the  press,  and  not  estabhsh  a  sepa- 
rate journal  for  the  advocacy  of  every  shade  of  opinion,  or 
pettishly  insist  that  your  newspapers  shall  be  but  babbling 
echoes  of  your  own  prejudices ;   and  the  daily  and  weekly 
journals  will  become  worth  our  reading,  and  the  best  minds 
will  contribute  to  their  resources.     As  it  is,  newspapers  (if  we 
guard  not  against  them)  become  dangerous  seductions.     I 
knew  a  gentleman  of  learning  and  talents,  who  confessed  that 
he  became  so  interested  by  a  newspaper  dispute  between  two 
silly  and  illiterate  tailors,  that  he  missed  his  amusement  when 
the  miserable  correspondence  ceased ;  and  I  acknowledge  for 
myself,  that  no  matter  how  I  may  be  pressed  with  important 
engagements,  I  always  seize  the  morning  and  evening  papers 
with  eagerness,  and  never  lay  them  down  without  a  sigh. 

Few  of  our  magazines  are  better  worth  our  attention. 
They  are,  for  the  most  part,  a  poor  patch-work,  a  tinsel  mo- 
saic of  superficial  learning,  crude  novelties,  abortive  wit, 
pointless  tales,  splenetic  or  fulsome  i*eviews,  and  half  hatched 


84  LEISURE  —  ITS   USES   AND   ABUSES. 

rhymes.  Honorable  exceptions  there  are,  but  they  are  too 
few  and  too  well  known  to  need  any  impertinent  distinctions 
from  me. 

For  the  same  reasons,  I  would  give  my  testimony  against 
the  compends,  and  abridgments,  and  synopses,  and  epitomes, 
with  which  this  boasting  but  superficial  age  abounds.  If  you 
admire  skeletons  without  flesh,  blood,  or  beauty,  choose  them ; 
but  if  you  would  woo  truth,  in  her  living,  breathing,  perfect 
loveliness,  search  for  her  in  full  treatises  and  complete  de- 
monstrations. The  first  will  make  you  pedantic  scioHsts,  the 
last,  true  philosophers. 

Society  you  must  have.  It  is  necessary  to  the  social  wants 
of  the  heart,  and  the  society  of  intelligent  persons  will  often 
teach  more  and  more  pleasantly  than  books.  Of  society  you 
may  have  your  choice.  "Waste  not  then  your  time  with  the 
sUly,  who  will  never  receive  nor  give  profit.  The  truly  good 
and  intelligent  are  ever  ready  to  meet  the  advances  of  the 
modest,  the  virtuous,  and  inquiring.  In  the  atmosphere  which 
they  breathe,  you  will  always  find  health  and  delight ;  but  as 
"  evil  communications  corrupt  good  manners,"  so  ignorant  and 
idle  communications  corrupt  good  sense. 

No  society  is  more  profitable,  because  none  more  refining 
and  provocative  of  virtue,  than  that  of  refined  and  sensible 
women.  God  enshrined  peculiar  goodness  in  the  form  of  wo- 
man, that  her  beauty  might  win,  her  gentle  voice  invite,  and 
the  desire  of  her  favor  persuade  men's  sterner  souls  to  leave 
the  paths  of  sinful  strife  for  the  ways  of  pleasantness  and 
peace.  But  when  woman  falls  from  her  blest  eminence,  and 
sinks  the  guardian  and  the  cherisher  of  pure  and  rational  enjoy- 


LEISUKE ITS    USES   AND   ABUSES.  85 

ments  into  the  vain  coquette,  or  flattered  idolater  of  idle  fash- 
ion, she  is  unworthy  of  an  honorable  man's  love,  or  a  sensible 
man's  admiration.     Beauty  is  then  but  at  best 

"  A  pretty  play-thing, 


Dear  deceit." 

I  honor  the  chivalrous  deference  which  is  paid  in  our  land 
to  women.  It  proves  that  our  men  know  how  to  respect  vir- 
tue and  pure  affection,  and  that  our  women  are  worthy  of 
such  respect.  Yet  woman  should  be  something  more  than 
mere  woman  to  win  us  to  their  society.  To  be  our  compan- 
ions, they  should  be  fitted  to  be  our  friends ;  to  rule  our  hearts, 
they  should  be  deserving  the  approbation  of  our  minds. 
There  are  many  such,  and  that  there  are  not  more,  is  rather 
the  fault  of  our  sex  than  their  own  ;  and,  despite  all  the  un- 
manly scandals  that  have  been  thrown  upon  them  in  prose  or 
verse,  they  would  rather  share  in  the  rational  conversation  of 
men  of  sense,  than  listen  to  the  siUy  compliments  of  fools ; 
and  a  man  dishonors  them  as  well  as  disgraces  himself,  when 
he  seeks  their  circle  for  idle  pastime,  and  not  for  the  improve- 
ment of  his  mind  and  the  elevation  of  his  heart. 

I  should  be  unworthy  of  my  office,  were  I  to  conclude  this 
effort  to  serve  you,  without  especially  commending  you  to  the 
teachings  and  communings  of  the  God  of  Nature  and  the 
Bible.  Make  God  your  friend,  clothe  yourself  with  his  ever 
presence,  bathe  yourselves  in  the  waters  of  his  truth.  In  the 
Scriptures  you  will  find  the  purest  morals,  the  safest  maxims 
of  practical  wisdom,  the  most  faithful  pictures  of  the  human 
heart,  and  the  finest  examples  of  moral  heroism.  There  are 
8 


86  LEISURE  — ITS   USES   AND   ABUSES. 

the  most  faithful  of  histories,  poetry  the  most  sublime,  and 
pathos  the  most  tender.  The  whole  range  of  literature  can- 
not vie  with  that  one  volume  in  ministering  to  true  intellectual 
taste  and  assisting  mental  growth.  But,  my  friends,  these  are 
the  least  reasons  for  its  study.  It  is  the  lamp  which  our 
Heavenly  Father  offers  to  our  hands,  that  we  may  trace  the 
yay  that  leads  through  the  darkness  of  this  life  to  the  region 
of  eternal  light  and  joy.  It  tells  us  of  one  who  so  loved  the 
world  as  to  come  from  heaven  to  earth,  that  we  might  learn 
to  ascend  from  earth  to  heaven :  who,  while  he  sanctified  him- 
self to  be  our  Saviour  from  the  guilt  of  our  sin,  brought  all 
the  beauty  and  strength  of  divinity  to  adorn  his  example  of  a 
perfect  man ;  and  now,  from  the  far  heaven  of  his  reward, 
yet  regards  with  a  brother's  eye,  and  assists  by  Almighty 
strength,  every  sincere  soul  that  seeks  to  tread  in  his  footsteps 
and  trusts  in  his  grace.  He  will  be  your  friend  if  you  are 
His.  As  my  parting  counsel,  let  me  then  entreat  that  you 
allow  no  day  to  pass  without  spending  some  due  portion  of 
time  in  meditating  on  the  sacred  word,  and  asking  the  blessed 
intercession  of  Jesus,  the  Son  of  God.  He  that  can  find  no 
leisure  for  this,  must  make  strange  estimates ;  for  "  what,"  I 
ask  you  as  men  of  business  to  make  the  calculation,  "  what 

IS  A  MAN  PROFITED   IF   HE    GAIN   THE   WHOLE   WORLD  AND 
LOSE  HIS  OWN  SOUL  ?" 


THE   AGE    OF   PERICLES. 


A     LECTURE 


HEAD    BEFORE    THE 


ATHENIAN   INSTITUTE   OF  PHILADELPHIA, 


1839. 


L  E  C  T  U  EE. 


Sallust,  in  his  book  on  Catiline's  conspiracy,  gives  it  as 
his  opinion,  that  Athens  owes  her  fame  less  to  her  real  great- 
ness, than  to  the  patriotic  genius  of  her  writers.  The  remark 
is  self-contradictory,  for  nowhere,  but  in  the  bosom  of  a  great 
people,  could  so  many  illustrious  authors,  of  such  various 
characters,  have  acquired  the  knowledge  and  felt  the  motive 
to  excel ;  yet,  iU-founded  as  it  is,  it  is  of  use  to  show  the  jeal- 
ousy, which  the  Roman  felt,  of  Athenian  preeminence  in  the 
judgment  of  future  ages. 

Greece  and  Rome  must  ever  be  rivals  for  the  regard  of 
the  student,  whether  his  favorite  pursuit  be  mere  literature, 
the  progress  of  society,  the  science  of  government,  the  philo- 
sophy of  morals,  the  refining  beauty  of  Art,  or  the  more 
doubtful  glory  of  warlike  achievement.  Plutarch  but  accom- 
modated himself  to  this  necessary  comparison,  when  in  his 
matchless  biographies  he  weighed  each  famous  Greek  against 
a  famous  Roman. 

To  the  American,  who  bears  the  two  most  noble  names  on 
earth,  Christian  and  Republican,  the  study  of  those  nations 
ought  to  be  especially  attractive.  In  their  ethics  and  spiritual 
philosophy  he  may  see  how  far  short  the  best  efforts  of  man's 

8* 


90  THE   AGE    or   PERICLES. 

best  mind  fall  of  the  divine  beauty  in  the  simple  teachings  of 
the  Sage  of  Galilee ;  and  learn,  after  having  wondered  that 
reason  unassisted  by  revelation  could  attain  so  far,  and  wept 
that  it  could  go  no  further,  to  rest  with  a  firmer  trust  and  a 
more  grateful  love  on  those  truths  which  God  has  caused  to 
be  "  written  for  our  learning,  that  we  through  patience  and 
comfort  in  the  Scriptures  might  have  hope."  It  is  only  the 
superficial  thinker  who  talks  lightly  of  ancient  heathen  wis- 
dom, and  considers  its  existing  remains  as  of  no  value.  He 
best  knows  the  blessing  of  the  Sun  of  Righteousness,  who  has 
talked  with  the  mighty  spirits  of  the  past  in  their  region  of 
the  shadow  of  death ;  and  never  does  the  Bow  of  Promise 
beam  in  such  lively  colors,  as  when  we  see  it  spanning  that 
mysterious  cloud  of  former  darkness,  which  no  heathen  hope 
had  strength  to  pierce.  Nor  should  we  forget  that  the  great 
apostle  of  our  faith  was  he,  who,  under  the  afflatus  of  inspi- 
ration, brought  a  mind  trained  in  the  logic  and  philosophy  of 
the  Grecian  schools  to  the  demonstration  of  Christianity. 

The  republican  may  discover  in  their  forms  and  changes 
of  government,  a  dim,  confused  foreshadowing  of  our  own  free 
systems,  and  rejoice  that  the  fatal  causes  of  their  downfall 
have  been  so  happily  obviated  by  the  provisions  of  that  sys- 
tem, which,  while  it  makes  the  sovereignty  of  the  people  the 
basis  of  its  strength,  preserves  in  just  balance  the  delegated 
functions  of  legislation,  judiciary  and  executive.  Such  an 
examination  is  the  more  important,  as  every  pen  *  which  has 
written  in  our  language  the  history  of  Greece  and  Rome,  has 
been  strongly  biased  in  favor  of  aristocratic  government. 

*  Thirlwall  is  an  exception. 


THE   AGE    OF  PERICLES.  91 

The  reader  of  Mitford,  Gillies  (even  in  his  translations  of 
Aristotle's  philosophical  treatises)  and  the  rest,  must  be  ever 
on  his  guard  against  concealments,  misstatements,  and  false  in- 
ferences, designed  or  unintentional,  which  cast  contempt  upon 
republican  principles,  and  alarm  the  generous  lover  of  equal 
rights.  Indeed,  the  history  of  the  whole  world,  except  what 
we  have  of  it  in  the  Bible,  needs  to  be  re-written.  The  time 
has  come  when  we  can  no  longer  be  satisfied  to  call  biogra- 
phies of  a  few  great  captains  or  lawgivers,  and  records  of 
changing  dynasties,  history.  We  demand  histories  of  the 
people,  of  their  condition,  character,  opinions  and  movements. 
Mr.  Prescott,  in  his  admirable  work  on  the  reign  of  Ferdi- 
nand and  Isabella,  and  Mr.  Bancroft,  in  that  history  of  our 
own  land  which  will  bear  his  name  illustrious  to  the  last  age 
of  time,  have  nobly  set  the  example  of  philosophic  history. 
No  other  historians  have  shown  such  sympathy  with  the  peo- 
ple, and  they  could  have  acquired  it  nowhere  but  in  republi- 
can America.  May  they  be  followed  by  others  from  among 
us,  who  will  vindicate  the  importance  of  the  many  from  the 
neglects  of  the  few ! 

But  the  calm  inquirer  into  the  history  of  ancient  republics 
will  find  no  cause  of  fear  for  our  own  government  and  people, 
except  so  far  as  we  may  tolerate  wrong  in  violation  of  our 
political  creed ;  but  will  rather  be  encouraged  to  write  upon 
the  architrave  of  that  system,  whose  foundation  is  the  freedom 
of  the  people,  and  whose  strong  simple  pillars  are  law,  intel- 
ligence, virtue  and  religion,  not  the  wish  of  a  doubting  patriot, 
"Esto  perpetua  !  "  but  the  bold  prophecy  of  a  heart  confident 
in  the  supreme  power  of  truth,  ^^Erit  in  perpetuum  !  " 


92  THE   AGE    OF   PERICLES. 

The  Athenian  is  the  most  attractive  of  the  Grecian  States, 
and,  in  many  regards,  more  interesting  than  the  Roman. 
Rome  was  the  more  stupendous,  Athens  the  more  graceful. 
Rising  from  a  further  antiquity,  Athens  is  original,  Rome 
more  like  a  copy ;  while  in  letters,  art  and  philosophy  Athens 
is  the  acknowledged  mistress.  The  Latin  authors  are  more 
familiar,  because  more  easily  read,  but  the  Greek  well  repay 
our  harder  study  and  open  to  us  the  fountains  of  all  classic 
beauty  and  delight.  Some  critics  have  given  the  palm  to  the 
Latin  historian,  but  the  rushing  energy  of  Demosthenes  bears 
down  even  the  high-toned,  sonorous  eloquence  of  his  Roman 
rival,  and  no  sufficient  umpire  would  place  the  elegant  Man- 
tuan  upon  a  pedestal  as  high  as  that  from  which  the  Father 
of  poetry  looks  down  on  aU  ages.  (We  give  Homer  to  Athens 
because  she  first  collected  and  edited  his  works.)  Cicero, 
notwithstanding  his  imitations  and  plagiarisms,  as  a  moralist, 
and  Horace  as  a  lyrist,  and  Juvenal  as  a  satirist,  would  have 
the  lecturer's  suffrage  over  all  the  Greeks ;  but  Rome  never 
produced  a  dramatist  worthy  of  being  named  in  the  same 
hour  with  the  three  great  Greek  tragic  writers,  or  in  many 
respects  with  the  comic  Aristophanes.  It  remained  for  one 
in  our  own  language  to  combine  the  supernatural  grandeur 
of  -^schylus,  the  chastened  subUmity  of  Sophocles,  and  the 
truthful  tenderness  of  Euripides,  with  the  pungent  wit  (and, 
alas !  too  often  the  conceits  and  the  grossness)  of  the  licen- 
tious fiiend  of  the  young  Alcibiades. 

It  is  of  Athens  we  would  treat,  and  Athens  in  her  palmiest 
day,  the  time  of  Pericles.  The  brief  space  allotted  to  this 
essay  wiU  not  permit  the  writer  to  say  much  on  the  various 


THE    AGE    OF    PERICLES.  93 

topics  which  will  present  themselves,  nor  will  the  intelligence 
of  his  hearers  allow  him  the  vanity  of  hoping  to  say  anything 
new ;  but  if,  while  he  causes  to  flit  rapidly  across  the  mirror 
of  educated  memory  persons  and  scenes  already  familiar  from 
converse  with  books,  he  can  impress  a  few  useful  lessons,  his 
reward  will  be  greater  than  he  deserves. 

A  slight  review  of  the  political  history  of  Athens  will  pre- 
pare us,  without  waste  of  time,  better  to  understand  the  con- 
dition of  the  Athenian  people  at  the  time  of  that  unparalleled 
demagogue,  who,  without  office,  ruled  by  the  strength  of  mind 
and  the  unscrupulous  cunning  of  ambitious  tact. 

The  early  history  of  Greece  is  lost  in  that  Cimmerian 
darkness  from  which  its  first  settlers  came.  There  are 
changes  of  fashion  in  history  as  well  as  in  the  shape  of  our 
garments,  and  it  is  the  present  mode  among  the  learned  to 
treat  as  fabulous  much  of  their  legends  which  the  Athenians 
themselves  considered  as  true,  from  well-established  tradition. 
Indefatigable  Germans,  bold  as  indefatigable,  and  their  disci- 
ples in  Britain  and  this  country,  have  not  hesitated  to  pro- 
nounce heroes  and  lawgivers,  whose  names  are  written  upon 
the  heights,  the  plains  and  the  shore  of  Attica,  mere  mythical 
personages,  whose  only  existence  is  in  the  dreams  of  the  poet, 
or  philosophical  fables  of  the  mysteries.  "We  may,  however, 
venture  to  inquire  whether  the  creation  of  such  myths  does 
not  argue  a  strength,  ingenuity  and  refinement  of  conception 
utterly  inconsistent  with  the  condition  of  mind  in  those  ages 
from  which  they  came ;  and  whether,  as  we  know  that  the 
Esoterical  teachers  did  use  many  real  events  and  persons  as 
the  material  for  their  mythism,  they  may  not  have  employed 


94  THE   AGE    OF   PERICLES. 

facts  and  persons  originally  true  in  other  if  not  in  all  cases  ? 
However  strong  the  evidence  of  immigration  from  India  may 
be,  is  it  necessary  to  deny  frequent  and  strong  infusions  from 
Egypt?     Or  can  we  hesitate  to  doubt  that  the  Athenians, 
with  cicadcB  in  their  hair  and  the  boast  of  Autochthonous  ori- 
gin on  their  lips,  were  made  to  admit  the  story  of  Egyptian 
colonists  without  strong  evidence  ?     That  the  Pelasgi,  who- 
ever they  were,  held  Attica  before  the  coming  of  Cecrops,  is 
very  evident,  but  no  ingenious  etymologies  nor  interlinkings 
of  scattered  sentences  and  obscure  inferences,  which  erudite 
men  have  employed  to  prove  that  Cecrops  never  existed,  are 
sufficient  to  destroy  the  testimony  of  tradition.     We  should 
believe  that  the  myths  were  founded  on  traditionary  facts 
rather  than  tradition  upon  myths ;    for  it  is  most  unphiloso- 
phical  to  believe  that  the  main  current  of  a  generally  received 
tradition  is  false,  especially  where,  as  in  this  case,  it  is  opposed 
to  national  pride  and  pretension.     Much  of  the  Hellenic  sys- 
tem, like  its  incomparably  perfect  language,  must  have  grown 
upon  its  soil ;  but  that  it  did  not  receive  many  ingredients 
from  sacred  Egypt,  it  would  be  a  denial  of  analogy  to  assert. 
These  questions  are,  however,  too  abstruse  for  our  present 
discussion.     We  shall,  therefore,  while  we  are  far  from  vouch- 
ing for  its  entire  authenticity,  record  the  popular  account  of 
the  rise  of  Athens  from  Pelasgic  obscurity  to  Attic  splendor. 
It  was  about  1556  B.  C.  that  Cecrops,  a  warlike  and  phi- 
losophical adventurer  from  Egypt,  sailed  through  the  Cyclades 
in  search  of  a  new  home  for"  himself  and  companions,  and 
found  on  the  coast  of  Attica  (so  called  from  a  word  signifying 
Sihore)  a  sheltered  bay,  with  a  lofty  and  almost  impregnable 


THE   AGE    OF   PERICLES,  95 

rock  a  few  miles  from  the  sea.  The  advantages  of  an  oppor- 
tunity for  commerce,  with  a  place  of  defence  against  wander- 
ing pirates,  determined  them  there  to  remain.  The  Pelasgi, 
the  rude  people  who  claimed  the  country,  were  quickly  sub- 
dued, rather  by  the  superior  policy  of  the  colonists  than  force 
of  arms,  and  easily  united  by  Cecrops  into  one  government 
with  his  followers.  They  inhabited  the  land  about  the  foot 
of  the  rock,  while  the  Egyptians  held  the  rock  itself,  which 
afterward  acquired  the  name  of  Acropolis,  or  Height  of  the 
City.  Other  tribes  and  territories  were  soon  added  to  the 
dominion  of  Cecrops,  who  proved  himself,  by  his  wisdom  and 
moderation,  worthy  of  his  new  sceptre.  He  divided  his  sub- 
jects, for  the  more  ready  administration  of  justice,  into  four 
tribes,  and  encouraged  them  in  the  practice  of  social  virtues. 
The  first  tribe,  bore  his  own  name,  and,  although  his  succes- 
sor was  a  native  of  the  country,  we  may  infer,  with  reason, 
that  the  descendants  of  the  Egyptian  colonists  claimed  a  cer- 
tain degree  of  nobility.  But  Cecrops  rendered  the  most  es- 
sential service  to  Athens  (which  derived  its  name  from  a  title 
of  Minerva,  its  tutelary  deity,)  by  the  attention  which  he  paid 
to  commerce  ;  and,  as  in  modern  republics,  the  free  and  gene- 
rous spirit  of  the  merchant  inspired  the  Athenians  with  a  no- 
ble love  of  liberty,  which  afterward  elevated  their  State  to 
such  commanding  eminence  over  the  other  States  of  Greece 
and  the  Archipelago. 

The  population  of  Attica  continued  to  increase  rapidly. 
For  the  soil,  being  rough  and  barren,  offered  little  temptation 
to  predatory  enemies,  while  it  gave  greater  stimulus  to  an  in- 
vigorating industry.     The  comparative  freedom  and  security 


96  THK   AGE    OF   PERICLES. 

of  the  government  drew  many  from  the  less  regulated  neigh- 
boring countries.  The  benign  climate  allured  more  adventu- 
rers from  Asia,  and  the  arts,  which  languished  in  the  warmer 
countries  of  their  birth,  flourished  luxuriantly,  enriching  and 
refining  the  people.  Besides  which,  their  commerce  was  ex- 
tending and  exerted  a  stronger  influence  upon  their  numbers 
and  prosperity.  We  are  not,  therefore,  surprised  to  find  the 
seventh  king  (another  Cecrops)  from  the  Egyptian  obliged  to 
divide  his  people  into  twelve  tribes,  giving  a  separate  juris- 
diction to  each,  the  effect  of  which  was  greatly  to  weaken  the 
central  power ;  indeed,  it  produced  the  jirst  germ  of  the  popu- 
lar authority.  Consequently  Theseus  (1230  B.  C.)  modeled 
the  government  anew,  and  united  the  people  in  one  common- 
wealth, instituting  for  the  preservation  of  the  union  a  grand 
religious  procession,  in  honor  of  Minerva,  called  Panathencea, 
or  service  of  the  united  Athenians,  as  the  whole  people  en- 
gaged in  it.  In  accomplishing  the  revolution,  it  was  neces- 
sary for  him  to  yield  much  of  the  royal  prerogative,  which, 
however,  he  did  cheerfully,  for  he  was  a  good  and  patriotic 
king.  Theseus  made  the  first  distinction  of  ranks  among  the 
people,  dividmg  them  into  nobles,  farmers,  and  mechanics. 
The  nobles  had  the  choice  of  magistrates,  the  care  of  laws, 
and  the  management  of  religious  rites.  The  mass  was  con- 
sulted in  their  general  assembly  on  great  national  questions, 
though  it  is  not  easy  to  discover  what  influence  they  were 
permitted  to  exert. 

At  the  death  of  Codrus,  who  devoted  himself  to  death  in  a 
battle  with  the  Dorians,  on  hearing  that  the  Delphic  oracle 
had  promised  victory  to  that  nation  whose  king  should  be 


THE   AGE    OF   PEKICLES.  97 

slain,  the  Athenians  determined  that  no  one  after  him  should 
be  allowed  the  title  of  king ;  and  the  son  of  Codrus  succeeded 
him  (1070  B.  C.)  as  Archon,  or  Chief  of  Athens.  The  change 
of  title  took  away  much  from  the  power  of  the  office,  and  the 
archon  was  made  subservient  in  a  degree  to  the  will  of  the 
people.  This  was  the  second  important  step  of  popular  free- 
dom. Under  the  archons  they  continually  gained  upon  the 
privileged  orders,  until  in  754  B.  C.  the  tei'm  of  the  archon- 
ship  was  limited  to  ten  years,  another  proof  of  popular  ad- 
vance. Seventy  years  afterward  the  term  was  restrained  to 
one  year,  and  divided  among  nine  free  citizens  for  several 
generations.  A  separate  jui'isdiction  was  assigned  to  each, 
and  they  thus  acted  as  checks  upon  one  another.  Still  the 
office  remained  with  the  few  powerful  from  family  or  wealth, 
and  the  people,  becoming  weary  of  their  partial  decisions,  de- 
manded a  written  code  of  laws,  or  constitution,  which  should 
protect  while  it  governed  all.  To  this  important  work  (the 
formation  of  the  first  Constitution  of  the  world,  except  that 
given  by  Heaven  to  the  Jews)  Draco  was  called  by  the  popu- 
lar voice.  His  laws,  though  absurdly  severe,  and,  therefore, 
counteracting  their  own  authority,  kept  the  State  for  a  time  in 
quiet.  But  the  power  of  the  rich,  owing  to  the  high  rate  of 
interest,  and  the  right  of  the  creditor  to  require  personal  ser- 
vice of  the  insolvent  debtor,  operated  strongly  against  the 
safety  of  the  people ;  and  they,  aided  by  the  jealous  dissen- 
sions of  the  rich  among  themselves,  succeeded  in  appointing 
the  great  Solon  to  the  office  of  constructing  a  new  constitution. 
His  provisions  were  intended  to  balance  the  power  of  the 
aristocracy  by  that  of  the  people.     He  divided  the  whole  into 

9 


98  THE   AGE    OP   PERICLES. 

four  classes,  according  to  a  census  of  property.  The  higher 
officers  were  limited  to  the  first  class,  the  lesser  to  the  second 
and  third,  while  the  fourth,  Thetes,  had  a  Toice  only  in  the 
general  assembly.  But  to  that  general  assembly  he  gave  the 
right  of  deciding  appeals  taken  from  the  other  courts,  which 
brought  the  more  important  causes  before  them,  and  so  gave 
to  the  people  an  immense  influence.  A  council  of  five  hun- 
dred, (Solon  made  it  four  hundred,  but  its  number  was  soon 
increased,)  chosen  by  lot  from  the  several  tribes,  had  a  cer- 
tain previous  jurisdiction,  and  ordered  the  call  of  the  general 
assembly. 

The  place  of  holding  the  assembly  was  the  Pnyx,  an  ex- 
tensive, circular,  roofless  enclosure,  a  little  to  the  left  of  the 
Pirsean  gate,  remarkable  for  nothing  but  its  size  and  antique 
simplicity,  having  been  built  in  the  time  of  Theseus.  There 
the  democracy  of  Athens  passed  their  sovereign  decrees,  after 
having  been  addressed  by  their  orators  from  the  Bema,  or 
pulpit  of  living  rock,  which  commanded  the  whole  multitude, 
generally  from  five  to  six  thousand  in  number.  The  debates 
were  conducted  first  by  those  citizens  who  were  more  than 
fifty  years  of  age,  and  afterward  by  any  who  chose  to  speak. 
The  question  was  taken  by  a  show  of  hands,  and  the  result 
announced  by  the  chairman,  who  held  the  office  only  one  day, 
and  never  again.  The  session  was  opened  by  the  sacrifice 
of  a  black  pig  to  Ceres. 

In  addition  to  these  arrangements,  Solon  fixed  the  rate  of 
interest  at  twelve  per  cent.,  and  made  the  debtor's  person  free, 
but  forfeited  his  goods,  except  the  necessary  implements  of 
his  trade,  for  he  considered  idleness  a  crime  no  man  should 


THE    AGE    OF   PERICLES.  99 

be  forced  to  commit.  By  an  agrarian  law,  he  prohibited  an 
inordinate  acquisition  of  landed  estates  in  any  one  man's 
hands,  a  regulation  excusable,  if  at  all,  from  the  narrow  extent 
of  the  Attic  territory. 

Still,  liberal  as  was  the  constitution  of  Solon,  it  was  defec- 
tive in  making  mere  riches  the  basis  of  political  distinctions, 
and  the  jealous  factions  of  the  richer  families  disturbed  the 
State  by  constant  quarrels. 

Thus,  about  thirty-five  years  after,  Pisistratus,  a  noble  by 
birth,  and  a  man  of  the  highest  talents,  raised  a  party  among 
the  populace,  and,  under  pretence  of  confirming  their  liber- 
ties, established  himself  as  Tyrant  (another  name  for  king,) 
of  Athens.  Notwithstanding  the  bold  means  by  which  he  ac- 
quired power  and  the  hateful  title  under  which  he  reigned, 
his  rule  ■w^as  mild,  his  private  life  virtuous  and  pure,  by  which 
he  won  the  admiration  of  his  countrymen.  He  and  his  son 
deserve  the  gratitude  of  the  world,  for  having  first  collected 
and  published  the  scattered  books  of  Homer.  He  also  es- 
tablished a  public  library,  the  first,  it  is  believed,  in  the  world. 
But  the  reign  of  a  despot,  however  clement,  was  not  to  be 
long  tolerated,  and,  after  many  struggles  commenced  by  Har- 
modius  and  Aristogeiton  in  circumstances  very  similar  to 
those  attending  the  expulsion  of  the  Tarquins  from  Rome, 
the  Pisistratidse  were  driven  from  Athens  forever. 

Chsthenes  introduced  a  new  engine  of  democratic  power, 
called  the  Ostracism,  or  vote  of  shells,  by  which  they  paid 
their  great  men  the  compliment  of  banishing  them  from  Athens, 
out  of  fear  lest  their  popularity,  like  that  of  Pisistratus,  might 
become  dangerous  to  liberty.     K  six  thousand  citizens  wrote 


100  THE   AGE    OF   PERICLES. 

the  name  of  a  citizen  upon  their  shells,  which  they  used  as 
ballots,  he  was  exiled  for  ten  years ;  a  measure  of  doubtful 
authority,  though  it  has  been  approved  by  Aristotle  and  Mon- 
tesquieu. 

The  aristocracy  still  maintained  the  ascendant  until  Peri- 
cles arose,  (470  B.  C.)  and,  having  obtained  the  ostracism 
of  Cimon,  flattered  the  people  by  a  great  increase  of  their  pow- 
er. Gifted  with  extraordinary  eloquence,  and  a  mind  of 
great  strength,  which  had  been  cultivated  under  the  best  mas- 
ters, he  soon  won  the  popular  confidence.  He  enlarged  the 
jurisdiction  of  their  courts,  paid  the  people  out  of  the  public 
treasury  largely  for  every  service,  and  pleased  them  with 
feasts  and  spectacles  until  Athens  became  in  form  a  democracy, 
yet  was  ruled  by  the  will  of  this  one  man,  who,  though  he 
never  held  any  high  civil  office,  continued  master  of  Attica 
for  more  than  thirty  years.  Such  was  the  political  condition 
of  Athens  at  the  time  of  which  we  would  speak. 

Serious,  and  in  the  end  fatal,  evils  had  entwined  their  ser- 
pent folds  around  the  liberties  of  the  Athenians.  One  was 
their  method  of  deciding  important  questions  on  sudden  emer- 
gencies, by  popular  vote.  The  selfish  cunning  of  the  dema- 
gogue weighed  down  the  scale  against  the  wisdom  of  caution 
and  the  advice  of  candor,  so  that  eloquence  became,  in  the  esti- 
mation of  the  Athenians,  the  most  valuable  accomplishment  a 
man  could  possess.  The  mischief  was  greater  from  the  fact 
that  the  people  were  but  one  State,  and  not  divided,  as  with 
us,  into  sections  which  might  have  acted  as  checks  upon  each 
other.  The  happy  expedient  of  representative  delegates 
would,  if  it  had  been  adopted  by  them,  have  prevented  their 
downfall  for  a  long  time. 


THE   AGE    OF   PERICLES.  101 

Another  great  evil  was  the  extent  to  which  servile  labor 
was  employed  by  them.  In  other  States  of  Greece,  it  was 
considered  scarcely  respectable  to  live  dependent  upon  the 
labor  of  slaves.  But  in  Attica  the  very  reverse  opinion  pre- 
vailed. They  thought  it  impossible  to  have  a  free  govern- 
ment, or  even  a  household,  without  slaves.  All  the  handicrafts 
were,  with  few  exceptions,  carried  on  by  slaves.  The  mines 
and  quarries,  and  even  the  land,  were  worked  by  them,  so  that 
while  the  entire  population  of  Attica  was  five  hundred  thou- 
sand, the  ratio  of  slaves  to  the  free  population  was  as  three  to 
one,  or  four  to  one  of  the  citizens.  The  efifect  was  on  the  one 
hand  to  increase  the  consequence  of  the  rich  by  freeing  them 
from  a  healthy  dependence  upon  the  poor,  and  on  the  other  to 
make  honest  labor  less  honorable  because  shared  with  the 
slave.  The  common  people,  disdaining  toil,  lounged  idly  in 
the  public  squares,  dependent  upon  the  artful  bribes  of  the 
rich,  and  ready  for  any  new  excitement  or  tumult.  No  peo- 
ple can  long  maintain  a  free  government  where  a  large  major- 
ity is  not  of  those  whose  hands  are  hardened  by  daily  toil,  and 
whose  bread  is  earned  by  the  sweat  of  their  face. 

Similar  mischief  was  produced  by  the  sources  of  the  Athe- 
nian revenue,  derived  from  the  silver  mines  of  Laurion,  which, 
being  very  extensive,  though  entirely  within  the  Attic  terri- 
tory, were  farmed  to  great  advantage  by  the  State,  especially 
after  the  time  of  Themistocles,  besides  the  profit  accruing  from 
the  application  of  capital ;  from  the  spoils  of  victory,  which 
alone  filled  the  treasury  to  overflowing ;  and  in  the  time  of 
Pericles,  from  the  treasure  of  the  confederates  for  defence 
against  invasion  from  the  East,  which  was  deposited  at  Athens, 
9* 


102  THE   AGE    OF   PERICLES. 

and  claimed  by  the  Athenians  as  their  own,  because  of  their 
superior  services.  These  riches  afforded  demagogues  among 
them  the  most  dangerous  of  all  powers,  that  of  corrupting  the 
people  hy  their  own  money.  Indeed,  all  wealth  which  is  not 
that  legitimate  reward  of  labor  corrupts,  but  never  advances, 
the  true  prosperity  of  a  nation  ;  and  it  would  seem  from  the 
experience  of  all  nations,  that  a  government  is  liable  to  be  per- 
verted in  precise  proportion  as  the  means  of  maintaining  it  are 
not  taken  directly  from  the  pockets  of  the  people  themselves. 
The  establishment  of  colonies,  (over  which  the  mother 
country  held  a  strong  hand,)  and  the  extension  of  territory  by 
conquest,  inflated  the  pride  of  the  people,  increased  their  bane- 
ful because  too  easy  wealth,  and  involved  them  with  mischiev- 
ous wars  and  more  mischievous  alliances.  Far-sighted,  even 
beyond  his  ordinary  sagacity,  was  that  counsel  of  our  coun- 
try's father,  who  dissuaded  from  the  lust  of  conquest,  and  gave 
us  the  maxim :  "  Friendship  with  all  nations,  alliance  with 
none."  The  fate  of  Athens  is  but  one  of  many  proofs  that  the 
Eternal  Lawgiver,  who  decrees 

"  That  where  guilt  is 


Sorrow  must  answer  it," 

has  also  determined,  that  they  who  encroach  upon  the  liber- 
ties of  others  shall  lose  their  own. 

The  state  of  morals  at  the  same  time  was  very  bad,  far 
worse  than  the  partial  judgment  of  their  historians  admits  it 
to  have  been.  The  progress  of  philosophy,  especially  through 
the  teaching  of  Anaxagoras  and  his  greater  pupil,  Socrates, 
the  best  of  all  the  ancients,  had  shaken  the  faith  of  the  educa- 


THE   AGE    OP  PEKICLES.  103 

ted  classes  in  the  popular  religion,  without  establishing  a  bet- 
ter in  its  place ;  while  the  great  mass  of  the  people,  supersti- 
tiously  zealous  for  the  worship  of  their  impure  gods,  only- 
evinced  greater  impurity. 

The  best  test  of  a  social  condition  is  the  place  which  women 
hold  in  it ;  and  there  is  unfortunately  much  uncertainty  res- 
pecting the  condition  of  Athenian  women.     Some  writers  con- 
sider them  as  having  been  generally  degraded  as  to  charac- 
ter and  influence.     Others  claim  more  for  them  than  they  de- 
serve.    We  hold  a  middle  opinion.     That  there  were  virtu- 
ous and  high-minded  women  among  the  Athenians,  no  one 
ought  to  doubt  who  has  read  the  beautiful  descriptions  of 
female  character  which  JEschylus  and  Sophocles,  and  even 
the  woman-hater,  Euripides,  presented  on  the  stage  amidst 
the  acclamations  of  the  theatre.     The  exquisite   affections, 
which  sanctify  the  heart  of  woman  for  her  offices  as  wife  and 
mother,  could  not  have  been  lost,  and  must  have  been  felt  by 
the  husband  and  the  son ;  and  the  dramatists  delight  in  pic- 
tures of  filial  devotion  and  a  sister's  love.     One  cannot  doubt 
that  the  Alcestis,  and  the  Clytemnestra  of  the  Iphigenia  in 
Aulis,  Iphigenia   herself,  Antigone  and  Electra,  must  have 
been  modeled  from  real  examples.     More  delightful  exhibi- 
tions of  woman's  tenderness,  constancy  and  devotion  cannot 
be  found  out  of  the  Christian  school.     It  might  be  shown  that 
Shakspeare  himself  was  in  some  manner  a  copyist  of  these 
types  of  moral  beauty.     In  the  story  of  Hamlet  there  are 
strong  coincidences,  to  say  the  least,  with  that  of  Orestes,  and, 
in  your  lecturer's  judgment,  the  sister  of  Orestes  has  far  more 
dramatic  purity  than  even  Opheha  brain-fevered  for  her  lover. 


104  THE   AGE    OF   PERICLES. 

The  daughter  of  CEdipus  wears  the  same  features,  that  we 
admire  and  bless  in  the  faithful  child  of  Lear.  If  we  read  of 
Agamemnon's  murderous  wife,  or  of  the  Colchian  Medea,  so 
do  we  of  Hamlet's  mother  and  the  blood-stained  Lady  Mac- 
beth. Still  it  must  be  owned  that  the  name  of  not  a  single 
woman  of  the  age  of  Pericles  remarkable  for  her  virtues,  has 
reached  us,  though  Theodota  and  Aspasia,  and  others  as  cor- 
rupt, are  known  to  us  all.  No  doubt,  had  the  women  been 
the  historians,  the  tables  might  have  been  turned. 

The  women  of  the  lower  orders  were  notoriously  dissolute  ; 
and  it  is  diflScult  to  suppose  that  the  virtue  of  any  could  have 
been  strictly  preserved,  when  from  their  tender  years  they 
were  made  to  join  in  the  most  corrupting  religious  ceremonies, 
bearing  emblems  and  listening  to  chants  which  were  vile  in 
the  extreme,  though  called  sacred.  It  is  absurd  to  say  that, 
because  religion  is  necessary  to  humanity,  a  false  religion,  so 
gross  as  that  which  deified  Bacchus,  Venus,  and  Mercury,  to 
say  nothing  of  the  rest  of  the  abandoned  denizens  of  Olympus, 
could  be  otherwise  than  corrupting. 

The  respectable  Athenian  women  remained  mostly,  though 
not  so  strictly  as  is  generally  supposed,  within  the  secluded 
apartments  of  their  houses,  poorly  educated,  if  at  all.  They 
rarely  went  abroad,  and  still  more  rarely  persuaded  their  un- 
easy democrats  of  husbands  to  remain  at  home,  when  there 
were  so  many  festivals  and  processions,  and  political  meetings 
to  attend,  and  the  benign  climate  encouraged  them  to  lounge 
in  the  gates  or  market  places,  asking  and  telling  the  news, 
which  every  day  brought.  On  the  other  hand,  many  foreign 
women,  whose  trade  was  sin,  with  their  fascinations  increased 


THE    AGE    OF   PERICLES.  105 

by  mental  accomplishments,  like  the  far-famed  A?pasia,  re- 
ceived open  attention  and  gallantry,  offered  without  shame, 
or  seeming  sense  of  wrong,  from  the  most  distinguished  citi- 
zens, and  even  the  wisest  men.  This  was  a  state  of  things 
likely,  above  all  others,  to  put  contempt  upon  virtue,  and  en- 
courage the  practice  of  vice.  The  moral  power  of  home,  the 
refining  influence  of  chaste  female  mind,  the  ennobling  ambi- 
tion of  winning  the  favor  of  virtuous  women  by  virtuous  acts, 
were  almost  unknown  at  Athens.  The  morals  of  society  were 
rotten  at  the  core.  The  reader  would  be  only  shocked  were 
the  reality  unveiled  further ;  but  it  is  right  that  we  should 
know,  and  that  our  women  should  know,  how  poor,  beside  the 
domestic  peace  and  morals  of  Christianity,  was  the  best  refine- 
ment of  Heathen  life ;  that  our  women  should  feel  how  much 
they  owe  to  the  influence  of  the  Gospel  for  their  most  common 
privileges  ;  and  that  our  men  should  confess  how  important  an 
agency  female  character  is  destined  to  exert  under  the 
Evangelical  system. 

What  idea  the  Athenians  had  of  female  excellence  may  be 
learned  from  a  funeral  oration,  attributed  to  Pericles  by  Thu- 
cydides.  After  praising  the  Athenian  people  in  a  very  ex- 
travagant manner,  and  comforting  the  sons  and  brothers  of 
the  slain  warriors,  the  only  notice  that  he  takes  of  their  wid- 
ows is  to  advise  them  "  to  behave  themselves  in  such  a  man- 
ner that  the  men  may  have  no  occasion  to  talk  about  them,  Ul 
or  well."  From  other  writers  of  the  same  period,  we  learn 
that  they  were  remarkable  only  for  anything  else  but  a  pas- 
sion for  keeping  great  numbers  of  rare  birds.  There  was  also 
an  old  law  on  their  books  forbidding  a  woman  going  upon  a 


106  THE   AGE    OF   PERICLES. 

journey,  to  carry  with  her  any  more  baggage  than  a  hand- 
basket.  This  law  could  not  have  been  strictly  enforced,  for 
we  see  by  the  works  of  art  which  have  come  down  to  us  that 
it  was  impossible  for  women  to  be  more  elegantly,  though  too 
scantily,  draped.  "We  must  not,  however,  infer  from  the  same 
authority  that  the  Attic  women  were  handsome,  though  the 
men  were.  The  beauties  of  Athens  were,  with  few  excep- 
tions, from  the  islands. 

Such,  alas !  was  the  state  of  morals  at  Athens  in  the  time 
of  Pericles,  the  sure  precursor  of  her  decay.  Yet  the  power 
of  Athens  was  at  this  time  almost  incredibly  great.  The  walls 
of  the  city  were  twenty-two  miles  in  circumference ;  but  they 
included  the  Pelasgicum,  a  space  about  the  Acropolis  uninhab- 
ited from  superstitious  motives,  much  other  waste  land,  and 
heights  with  precipitous  sides.  The  number  of  her  free  citi- 
zens could  have  been  at  no  period  more  than  between  twenty 
and  twenty-five  thousand.  There  were,  however,  large  num- 
bers of  foreigners  permitted  to  reside  there  for  purposes  of 
trade,  on  paying  a  certain  tax.  These  may,  with  the  floating 
population  of  mai'iners  and  others,  have  amounted  to  some 
sixty  thousand ;  the  rest  of  the  five  hundred  thousand  inhabi- 
tants, we  have  already  seen,  were  slaves.  Yet  was  she  supe- 
rior to  all  the  rest  of  Greece,  and  her  sway  extended  over 
millions  of  people.  Certainly,  no  other  nation  so  small  has 
produced  so  many  generals,  poets,  orators,  philosophers,  and 
statesmen,  worthy  of  undying  fame. 

Let  us  now  turn  to  the  more  pleasing  view  of  her  arts  and 
letters. 

.  The  time  we  choose  for  this,  is  that  between  the  yeai's  440 


THE   AGE    OP   PERICLES.  107 

and  436  B.  C.  Pericles  had  then  been  for  more  than  twenty 
years  at  the  head  of  affairs,  and  during  nearly  the  whole  time 
exerting  his  great  influence  and  taste  to  encourage  the  liberal 
Arts  and  to  embellish  the  city.  For  this  purpose  he  freely 
used  the  treasure  of  the  allies,  which  he  transferred  from 
Delos  to  Athens,  asserting  that  as  the  Athenians  had  driven 
off  the  Persians,  they  had  a  right  to  the  funds  contributed  for 
the  war.  The  abundance  and  beauty  of  the  Pentelican  mar- 
ble, quarried  at  but  a  small  distance  from  the  city,  greatly 
facilitated  his  designs ;  without  it,  indeed,  their  execution 
would  have  been  impracticable.  Yet  with  all  these  advantages, 
we  cannot  choose  but  wonder  that  art,  which  was  itself  in  in- 
fancy when  Pericles  was  in  his  cradle,  could  so  quickly  have 
attained  an  excellence  which  has  since  received  the  admiration 
of  the  world. 

The  Athenian  people  strongly  seconded  the  efforts  of  Peri- 
cles to  beautify  their  city,  now  doubly  dear  because  once  lost 
by  invasion,  and,  as  they  fondly  thought,  doubly  secured  by 
the  Persian  defeat.  The  artist  was  encouraged  to  put  forth 
his  best  skill  for  the  gratification  of  their  passionate  wish,  and 
during  the  lull  of  peace  ambition  sougPit  that  fame,  which  was 
no  longer  to  be  won  upon  the  sea  or  the  battle-field,  in  the 
graceful  triumphs  of  art  and  letters.  The  Athenians  crowned 
not  only  the  victorious  general  or  naval  commander,  but  also 
the  poet,  the  architect,  the  historian,  the  musician,  painter  and 
sculptor. 

The  Acropolis  was  most  dear  to  Athenian  pride.  It  was  a 
precipitous  rock  distant  several  miles  from  the  Piraeus,  rising 
to  the  height  of  a  hundred  and  fifty  feet,  accessible  only  on  the 


108  THE   AGE    OF  PERICLES. 

western  side,  and  there  by  a  sharp  acdivity.  The  summit 
was  nearly  plane,  about  a  thousand  feet  long,  and  in  no  part 
more  than  five  hundred  feet  wide.  Upon  it  and  around  it 
were  clustered  the  richest  and  most  numerous  treasures  of 
Athenian  skill  and  magnificence,  for  it  was  sacred  by  a  thou- 
sand associations,  religious  and  patriotic.  It  was  the  first 
object  that  the  home-bound  mariner  saw  as  he  turned  the  Cape 
of  Sunium,  and  there,  like  ^geus  the  father  of  Theseus,  were 
the  Athenians  wont  to  ascend  and  look  for  the  expected  fleet 
with  omens  of  victory.  From  its  western  height  they  saw 
spread  around  and  beneath  them  their  proud  city,  with  its 
mighty  walls  reaching  the  harbor,  where  lay  awaiting  a  sum- 
mons to  conflict  and  victory  their  multitude  of  many-banked 
galleys.  Thence  they  looked  on  Salamis,  whose  shores  were 
once  washed  red  with  the  blood  of  their  enemies,  and  by  turn- 
ing their  glance,  they  saw  winding  over  the  mountain  the  road 
to  Marathon,  and  the  more  distant  Platea.  No  wonder  they 
adorned  that  height,  and  invoked  the  genii  of  painting,  sculp- 
ture and  architecture  to  enrich  the  decoration. 

On  the  western  cliff,  at  the  enti-ance  of  the  platform,  stood 
the  Propylon,  or  the  Portico,  the  work  of  Mnesicles  the  archi- 
tect. It  was  of  the  purest  Pentelican  marble,  which  in  its 
ruins  to  this  day  spai'kles  like  snow  on  which  a  golden  sunbeam 
has  fallen.  Its  fronts,  eastern  and  western,  were  each  sixty 
feet  broad,  with  six  fluted  Doric  columns,  twenty-nine  feet 
high,  supporting  a  noble  pediment  adorned  by  most  exquisite 
sculptures,  and  enriched  by  a  profusion  of  golden  and  painted 
decorations.  On  the  western  side  there  are  two  projections 
or  wings,  with  three  columns  each.     The  sacred  processions 


THE   AGE    OF   PERICLES.  109 

passed  through  the  columns  of  the  Propylsea,  there  being  on 
either  side  of  the  chariot-way  a  grand  flight  of  steps.  On 
either  side  stood  a  building.  That  on  the  right  was  the  tem- 
ple of  Victory,  whose  statue  was  wingless,  in  memory  of  the 
fatal  mistake  of  Theseus,  who  forgot  to  announce  his  victory 
by  hoisting  a  white  sail  as  he  came  round  Sunium,  and  thus 
caused  the  suicide  of  his  father ;  or  as  some  say  from  the 
proud  notion  of  the  Athenians  that  victory  would  never  leave 
their  citadel.  This  building  had  four  Ionic  columns  on  its 
outer  and  three  on  its  inner  front,  and  its  frieze  presented 
sculptures  of  the  battle  of  Marathon.  That  on  the  left  was 
the  Poecile,  the  walls  of  which  were  occupied  with  historical 
paintings  by  Polygnotus. 

About  three  hundred  feet  from  the  Propylon  was  the  match- 
less Parthenon,  or  temple  of  the  Virgin  Minerva,  the  pride 
of  Greece,  the  glory  of  architecture,  and  the  admiration  of 
all  succeeding  ages.  It  stood,  or  i-ather  stands,  for  though  in 
ruins,  the  classic  pilgrim  may  still  admire  its  beauty  and  la- 
ment its  decay,  upon  an  elevation  sufficient  to  give  its  perfect 
proportions  full  display,  without  the  artifice  of  a  high  basement, 
by  which  so  many  of  our  buildings  are  lifted  up  to  view. 
But  three  steps  sufficed  to  enter  upon  its  platform.  The 
whole  building  stood  upon  the  ground  about  227  feet  in  length, 
by  101  in  breadth,  and  in  height  to  the  top  of  its  pediment  66 
feet.  It  had  eight  fluted  Doric  columns  on  each  front,  and 
seventeen  on  each  side,  six  feet  in  diameter  and  thirty-four  in 
height.  Within  each  front  range  was  a  second  screen  of  col- 
umns, five  feet  and  a  half  in  diameter,  forming  a  vestibule  to 
the  lofty  door,  to  which  there  was  an  ascent  of  two  steps. 
10 


110  THE   AGE    OF   PERICLES. 

Each  pediment  contained  a  span  eighty  feet  wide,  which  was 
filled  with  sculpture  of  colossal  groups,  that  on  the  westeni 
side  representing  the  contest  of  Minerva  and  Neptune  for  the 
tutelary  rule  of  Athens,  and  that  on  the  other  the  birth  of 
Minerva,  full  grown  and  full  armed,  from  the  head  of  Jupiter. 
There  were  nearly  twenty  figures  in  each.  Each  metope  (the 
space  between  the  triglyphs,  or  the  grooved  ornaments  repre- 
senting the  extremities  of  the  ancient  rafters)  of  which  there 
were  ninety-two  in  number,  a  little  more  than  four  feet  square, 
described  by  figures  in  alto  relievo  various  scenes,  battles  of 
the  Amazons,  struggles  of  Centaurs  and  Lapithae,  or  exploits 
of  early  Athenians  ;  and  on  the  continuous  frieze  along  the  in- 
ner fronts  was  seen  the  crowd  of  a  Panathenaic  procession. 
These  figures,  most  of  them  seen  at  the  height  of  forty  feet, 
are  worthy  of  intense  praise,  whether  considered  as  groups  or 
single  figures.  The  ancient  critics  were  unbounded  in  their 
admiration  of  them,  and  the  moderns  are  justified  by  the  re- 
mains in  the  Elgin  collection  if  they  agree  with  the  suf- 
frage of  antiquity.  Theinterior  of  the  Parthenon  was  divided 
into  two  compartments,  the  smaller  of  which  was  the  Opis- 
ihodome,  or  treasure-house,  of  Athens,  and  the  larger  the 
peculiar  shrine  of  the  virgin  goddess  where  stood  her  lofty 
statue.  The  proud  grandeur  of  the  whole,  and  the  exquisite 
beauty  of  its  detail,  require  the  genius  of  an  architect  and  the 
pen  of  a  poet  to  describe  them.  It  has  ever  been  the  study 
of  the  emulous  architect,  content  to  imitate,  but  never  dream- 
ing of  excelling  the  work  of  far  antiquity. 

Such  was  the  temple  that  crowned  the  Acropolis.     It  was 
the  shrine  of  virgin  Truth,  and  its  Pentelican  was  white  as 


THE   AGE    OF   PERICLES.  Ill 

snow  new  fallen  to  earth.  It  was  the  shrine  of  deified  Wis- 
dom, simple  in  harmonious  purity  and  massive  in  majestic 
strength.  It  was  the  shrine  of  female  excellence,  and  its 
Doric  proportions  were  moulded  with  scarcely  less  than  mas- 
culine vigor  yet  feminine  grace.  So  plastic  did  the  marble 
seem  to  have  been  beneath  the  chisel,  that  it  was  as  though 
the  goddess  had  descended  from  the  sky  with  a  spotless  cloud 
about  her,  and  when  she  reached  the  spot  she  would  conse- 
crate, it  had  gently  sunk  into  the  form  her  celestial  taste  had 
chosen,  and  with  a  touch  of  her  Gorgon  aegis  she  had  turned 
it  into  stone.  Yet  not  before  the  gigantic  shapes  of  gods  had 
started  forth  in  crowded  grandeur  on  its  fronts,  the  multitude 
of  worshipers  in  graceful  confusion  rushed  along  its  archi- 
traves, the  infuriate  but  beautiful  Amazon  struggled  fighting 
with  victorious  Greeks,  and  the  Centaurs  combining  in  won- 
derful anatomy  the  trunk  and  limbs  of  the  wai'-horse  with  the 
other  parts  of  man,  resisted  vainly  with  trampling  hoof  and 
bloody  spear  the  vengeful  Lapithge,  rising  in  wrath  from  the 
dishonored  banquet. 

There  were  other  buildings  on  the  Acropolis,  but  as  they 
were  replaced  by  those  of  more  modern  date  we  need  not 
speak  of  them.  Near  its  south-eastern  base  the  splendid 
taste  of  Pericles  displayed  itself  in  the  Odeon,  or  Concert 
House,  and  the  Theatre  of  Bacchus,  which  he  completed  and 
adorned.  The  Odeon  was  built  with  the  fantastic,  though  not 
ungraceful,  design  of  imitating  the  tent  of  Xerxes,  surmounted 
by  a  circular  roof  which  was  constructed  with  the  spars  of  the 
Persian  ships  taken  at  Salamis.  The  Theatre,  or  Temple  of 
Bacchus,  was  semicircular,  and  capable  of  containing  thirty 


112  THE   AGE    OF   PERICLES. 

thousand  spectators,  being  built  against  the  side  of  the  Acro- 
polis, and  with  ranges  of  seats  hewn  out  of  the  rock,  around 
the  concavity,  rising  above  each  other  as  they  receded  from 
the  centre.  Ancient  authors  however  give  us  a  much  better 
idea  of  its  interior  than  of  its  external  architecture. 

Other  buildings,  built  shortly  before  or  after  the  time  of 
Pericles,  might  claim  our  attention ;  but  those  we  have  briefly 
described  will  give  some  faint  idea  of  the  perfection  and  splen- 
dor to  which  Athenian  architecture  was  brought  by  the  ener- 
gy and  genius  of  that  extraordinary  man,  aided  by  Phidias, 
Mnesicles,  Ictinus  and  Callicrates.  We  wonder  the  more 
when  we  consider  the  short  time  which  sufficed  for  the  con- 
struction of  these  prodigies  of  magnificence  and  skill;  the 
Parthenon  having  been  completed  in  less  than  fifteen  years, 
the  Propylsea  in  still  less,  and  all  in  twenty-five. 

Sculpture  rivaled  architecture  in  rapidity  of  improvement, 
or  rather  they  went  hand  in  hand.  Phidias,  in  his  daring 
and  colossal  genius,  left  his  predecessors  by  rapid  strides  far 
behind.  His  statue  of  Minerva,  in  the  Parthenon,  was,  with 
its  pedestal,  forty  feet  high,  yet,  notwithstanding  its  size,  so 
anxious  was  he  to  excel  in  the  fineness  of  its  execution,  that 
he  wrought  it  of  ivory  upon  a  frame  of  wood,  but  so  curious- 
ly, that  it  seemed  to  be  one  entire  piece,  exquisitely  polished. 

The  robe  of  the  goddess  was  of  beaten  gold,  in  value  at 
least  550,000  dollars,  and  made  in  such  a  way  that  it  might 
be  removed  at  pleasure,  as  it  was  when  Phidias,  having  been 
accused  of  purloining  some  of  the  precious  metal  allowed  him 
for  the  purpose,  weighed  it  before  the  assembly  of  the  people. 
In  her  right  hand  stood  a  statue  of  Victory,  six  feet  high,  and 


THE   AGE    OF   PERICLES.  113 

her  left  supported  a  spear.  Her  helmet,  her  breast-plate  and 
sandals  and  girdle  were  covered  with  emblematic  figures,  and 
the  immense  ^gis  at  her  side  with  the  battles  of  the  Amazons. 

Yet  wonderful  as  this  statue  was,  another,  from  the  hand 
of  the  same  master,  excelled  it  in  grandeur,  the  Minerva  Po- 
lias,  cast  in  bronze,  from  the  spoils  of  Marathon,  the  height 
of  which  was  so  great  that  the  mariner  on  doubling  Sunium 
(a  distance  of  forty  miles)  saw  the  top  of  her  helmet  and 
spear,  as  she  sat  in  the  open  translucent  air  on  the  Acropolis. 
Another  Minerva,  by  Phidias  also,  in  bronze,  and  on  the 
Acropolis,  sent  as  a  present  to  Athens  by  the  Lemnians,  ex- 
celled both  in  beauty ;  while  a  statue  of  Jupiter  Olympius,  at 
Elis,  of  gold  and  ivory,  is  said  by  the  voice  of  antiquity  to 
have  been  the  master  work  of  all.  These  were  only  a  few  of 
his  works,  for  Phidias  excelled  as  much  in  rapidity  of  execu- 
tion as  in  the  originality,  vastness  and  beauty  of  his  concep- 
tions. His  skill,  being  not  only  in  marble,  but  in  castings  and 
ivory,  shows  a  combination  of  talent,  giving  him  undisputed 
eminence  over  every  other  sculptor,  ancient  or  modern. 

As  might  be  inferred,  when  sculpture  had  reached  such 
perfection,  painting  had  made  no  small  advances.  It  is  true, 
that,  being  ignorant  of  oil  as  a  vehicle,  and  also  of  many  means 
of  coloring,  the  ancient  painter  enjoyed  far  fewer  advantages 
than  the  modern,  yet  we  have  good  reason  to  believe  that  the 
artists  about  the  time  of  Pericles  were  eminently  successful 
in  their  exhibition  of  the  grand  and  the  beautiful.  It  cannot 
have  been,  that  those  who  had  before  them  the  sculptures  of 
Phidias  would  have  lavished  such  praises  upon  his  brethren 
of  the  pencil,  had  they  been  ill-deserved.  The  taste,  which 
10* 


114  THE   AGE    OF  PERICLES. 

was  SO  highly  cultivated  by  the  one  art,  would  not  have  been 
satisfied  by  poverty  in  the  other.  Indeed,  such  compositions 
as  we  know  were  produced  by  them  could  not  have  been  exe- 
cuted without  much  practical  knowledge  of  perspective  and 
coloring. 

Panaeus,  the  brother  of  Phidias,  adorned  the  sculptor's 
works  with  his  pencil ;  for,  however  repugnant  to  modem 
taste,  they  did  sometimes  paint  the  eyes  and  countenance  and 
drapery  of  statues,  as  they  painted  and  gilded  their  architec- 
ture. Polygnotus  (who  might  be  called  the  Michael  Angelo 
of  that  day  in  painting)  described,  on  the  walls  of  the  Poecile, 
the  forms  of  heroes  with  such  grandeur  of  outline  and  ex- 
pression, that  his  men  were  said  to  look  like  gods ;  and  he 
lived  afterward,  by  a  vote  of  the  Amphictyonic  Council,  as 
guest  of  all  Greece.  His  style  must  have  been  very  bold, 
simple  and  pure.  Zeuxis  and  Parrhasius  were  both  very 
young  at  the  time  of  Pericles ;  but  they  soon  became  as  fa- 
mous for  coloring  and  moral  expression  as  Polygnotus  had 
been  for  vigor  of  outline. 

Lucian  describes  a  picture  by  Zeuxis,  in  which  he  repre- 
sented a  female  Centaur  and  her  young,  whUe  the  father 
playfully  holds  up  a  lion's  cub  to  frighten  his  offspring ;  and 
another  of  Jupiter  in  full  assembly  of  the  gods.  No  one  can 
doubt  that  great  ability  in  the  execution  of  such  conceptions 
must  have  been  displayed  to  make  them  worthy  of  the 'praise 
bestowed  upon  them.  So  highly  valued  were  the  pictures  of 
Zeuxis,  that  he  became  one  of  the  richest  men  of  his  day,  and 
refused  to  paint  any  longer  for  money.  In  the  earlier  part  of 
his  life  he  exhibited  some  of  his  pictures,  at  least  his  Helen, 


THE  AGE   OF  PERICLES.  115 

for  a  certain  admission  price,  which,  or  the  large  sum  he 
gained  by  it,  excited  the  anger  of  his  brother  artists,  and  led 
them  to  bestow  upon  his  picture  a  not  very  enviable  name. 
It  was,  undoubtedly,  the  first  instance  of  such  an  exhibition. 

Parrhasius,  whom  Horace  designates  as  "  ille  liquidis  colori- 
bus,"  was  probably  yet  more  finished  in  his  coloring.  He  is 
said  to  have  had  the  skill  so  rare,  which  Correggio  possessed, 
of  losing  the  contours  of  his  forms,  so  as  to  give  the  idea  of 
roundness  without  making  the  defining  line  too  distinct.  But 
with  the  grace  of  Correggio,  and  the  coloring  of  Titian,  he 
had  (alas !)  the  licentious  taste  of  the  latter,  and  it  is  not  much 
to  his  credit,  that  one  of  his  pictures  was  the  chief  favorite  of 
a  Roman  Caesar  most  notorious  for  his  vile  tastes. 

Of  the  music  of  the  Greeks,  at  this  period,  we  know  but 
little.  The  whole  subject  is  involved  in  great  obscurity. 
Great  attention  was  paid  to  it  by  aU  the  Greeks  from  the 
most  remote  antiquity,  and  it  was  considered  both  as  an  ele- 
gant accomplishment,  and,  for  its  moral  effects,  an  essential 
part  of  education.  The  people  paid  high  honor  to  the  best 
performers,  and  the  magnificent  Odeon,  erected  for  musical 
entertainments,  shows  their  fondness  for  such  refined  enjoy- 
ment. They  recognized  quarter  tones  in  their  scale,  and 
seem  to  have  had  remarkable  delicacy  of  ear.  Their  instru- 
ments, though  they  spent  great  pains  in  their  construction, 
were  poor,  and  would  not  allow  of  such  harmonies  as  those 
with  which  our  modern  masters  ravish  and  overpower  our  de- 
lighted sense.  Their  vocal  performances  were  probably  in  a 
nicely  modulated  recitative;  and,  indeed,  their  plays  must 
have  resembled  the  modern  opera,  not  only  in  the  choruses 


116  THE   AGE    OF   PERICLES. 

and  ballets,  which  were  produced  with  great  care  and  ex- 
pense, but  also  in  the  speaking  parts  of  the  drama. 

The  drama  of  the  Athenians  is  worthy  of  notice  from  the 
moralist  as  well  as  the  scholar.  Perhaps  a  few  remarks  may 
interest  all  our  readers. 

The  origin  of  the  drama  is  found  in  the  worship  of  Bac- 
chus ;  who,  though  vulgarly  known  to  us  as  the  God  of  Wine, 
was  a  deity  of  much  higher  pretensions,  being  thought  to 
preside  over  production  generally.  The  hymns  or  songs 
sung  in  his  honor  were  of  a  very  serious  and  dignified  char- 
acter, and  being  originally  extemporaneous,  the  best  improvi- 
sation on  the  occasion  received  a  goat  as  the  prize.  Hence 
the  word  Tragedy,  or  song  of  the  goat.  Other  songs  in  the 
merry-makings  which  followed  among  the  vintagers,  who  of- 
ten disguised  themselves  as  Satyrs,  would  be  characterized  by 
rustic  wit  and  personalities.  Hence  came  the  word  Comedy, 
or  song  of  the  village,  and  also  satire.  Gradually,  both  tra- 
gedy and  comedy  obtained  a  more  regulated  character,  and 
assumed  the  form  in  which  they  have  reached  us,  by  the  ge- 
nius of  the  great  dramatic  authors  we  have  named  and  their 
followers. 

The  writer  is  far  from  agreeing  with  those  who  think  the 
modem  drama  a  good  school  of  morals.  K  it  be  so,  it  has 
had  very  few  good  scholars.  But,  it  ought  to  be  remembered 
that  at  a  time  when  there  were  neither  schools  nor  teachers, 
nor  journals,  nor  methods  for  multiplying  books,  such  as  we 
possess,  for  the  people  at  large,  the  drama  furnished,  in  the 
absence  of  better  means,  an  opportunity,  almost  the  only  one, 
of  impressing  the  multitude  with  lessons  of  virtue,  familiar 


THE   AGE    OF  PERICLES.  117 

and  public ;  and  the  tragic  writers  of  the  Greeks  are  emi- 
nently pure  and  elevated  in  their  sentiments.  There  is  not  a 
line  in  them  all  which  ought  to  brighten  the  bloom  of  a  mod- 
est cheek.  But  all  the  wit  of  their  comedies  cannot  reconcile 
us  to  their  grossness  and  scurrility.  The  consequence  was, 
that  the  magistrates,  as  guardians  of  public  morals,  greatly 
encouraged  tragic  representations,  but  were  anxious  to  sup- 
press the  dangerous  freedom  of  the  farce,  which,  however, 
they  found  difficult  to  do.  (It  was  suppressed  for  some  years 
about  the  time  of  which  we  speak.)  For  the  reasons  given, 
the  Temple  of  Bacchus  became  the  theatre  in  which  the 
dramatists  exhibited  their  pieces,  at  great  personal  expense, 
to  gain  the  applause  of  their  countrymen.  A  small  price  was 
charged  for  admission,  but  Pericles  caused  the  tickets  to  be 
paid  for  out  of  the  public  treasury. 

The  theatre  was,  as  we  have  seen,  capable  of  containing  at 
the  least  thirty  thousand  spectators.  It  was  semi-circular  in 
form,  the  straight  line  presenting  the  stage.  The  scenery, 
though  seldom  changed,  was  provided  at  great  cost,  and  was 
very  effective.  They  had  nearly  all  the  machinery  of  modern 
theatres,  with  pulleys  to  let  down  or  hoist  up  their  deities,  and 
trap-doors  for  ghosts  and  furies  to  issue  from.  They  made 
thunder  by  rattling  bladders  filled  with  stones  upon  sheets  of 
metal,  and  lightning  by  flashing  torches  from  the  side  scenes. 
There  were  never  more  (legitimately)  than  three  principal 
performers  on  the  stage  at  a  time.  Thespis  introduced  one, 
distinct  from  the  chorus,  ^schylus  two,  Sophocles  a  third. 
The  actors  had  their  stature  artificially  heightened  by  boots, 
called  cothurni,  and  their  stuffed  dresses  enlarged  their  size 


118  THE   AGE    OF   PERICLES. 

correspondingly.  They  also  wore  large  masks  and  artificial 
curls ;  so  that,  altogether,  their  figures  were  colossal,  to  pro- 
duce a  proper  eflTect  upon  the  more  distant  spectators.  These 
masks  were  artificially  contrived  to  increase  the  sound  of  the 
voice ;  to  which  also  the  shape  of  the  stage  contributed,  and 
there  were  beside  hollow  jars  arranged  in  a  graduated  scale, 
which  swelled  the  sound  by  reverberation.  From  the  name 
Hypocrita,  or  interlocutor,  given  to  the  actors,  has  come  our 
modern  term  intimating  deception. 

Beside  the  principal  actors,  it  is  well  known  that  there  was 
a  chorus,  (originally  signifying  persons  dancing,  or  moving  to 
music,)  composed  of  men  and  boys,  (females  were  not  allowed 
to  act  in  the  drama,)  who,  in  a  chanted  recitation  and  alterna- 
tion of  responses,  kept  up  the  thread  of  the  plots  for  the  audi- 
ence. But  this  chorus  never,  or  at  least  very  rarely,  ap- 
peared on  the  stage.  They  occupied  a  sort  of  pit  between 
the  stage  and  the  audience,  called  the  orchestra,  about  which 
they  moved  in  a  species  of  descriptive  ballet,  as  they  observed 
the  performance  of  the  actors,  or  turned  to  the  audience  as 
they  filled  up  the  pauses  of  the  dialogue  or  trilogue  with  their 
modulated  recitation. 

These  exhibitions  were  very  popular  at  Athens,  and  oc- 
curred several  times  in  the  year,  but  always  in  daylight. 
Some  writers  have  asserted  that  women  were  not  allowed  to 
attend  these  exhibitions,  but  that  is  a  mistake.  We  know  of 
several  instances  of  their  being  in  the  theatre,  particularly 
one,  when  ^schylus  brought  at  least  fifty  furies  rushing  on 
the  stage,  whose  appearance  frightened  many  women  and  chil- 
dren seriously,  in  consequence  of  which  the  number  of  that 
chorus  was  reduced  by  law 


THE   AGE    OF  PEKICLES.  119 

Let  us  suppose  ourselves  to  have  entered  the  theatre,  du- 
ring a  representation,  about  the  time  of  which  we  are  treating, 
and  we  may  discover  many  among  the  audience  whose  names 
are  familiar  to  us  by  history. 

There,  closely  watching  the  performance,  is  one  of  low  stat- 
ure, whose  anxious  countenance  is  indicative  rather  of  genius 
than  high  birth.  It  is  Euripides,  whose  play  of  Medea  is  now 
on  the  stage.  Near  him  sits  another,  evidently  intent  upon 
the  performance  with  pleasure,  whose  handsome  countenance 
has  acquired  dignity  and  serenity  from  years.  It  is  his  gene- 
rous rival,  Sophocles.  On  the  other  side  is  a  friend  of  Eu- 
ripides, to  whose  assistance,  it  is  more  than  suspected,  the  play 
owes  much  of  its  success.  His  face  a  mere  physiognomist 
might  condemn,  but  his  head  to  the  eye  of  a  phrenologist  shows 
great  thought,  benevolence  and  veneration.  It  is  Socrates,  as 
yet  in  the  prime  of  life.  That  venerable  man,  whom  the  peo- 
ple regard  with  such  respect,  is  Herodotus,  and  by  his  side  sits 
Thucydides,  with  severe  but  youthful  brow,  emulous  of  his 
fame,  but  soon  to  exceed  it  as  the  master  historian  of  the  world. 
That  noble  personage,  surrounded  by  troops  of  friends,  and 
remarkable  for  his  brow  like  Jove,  and  the  length  of  his  head, 
which  also  rises  to  a  point,  (so  that  old  Cratinus  says  he  car- 
ries the  Odeon  on  it,)  is  Pericles  himself.  There  seems  a 
slight  but  very  beautiful  boy  by  his  side,  wrapped  in  a  close 
mantle ;  it  is  the  Milesian  Aspasia,  who  has  assumed  such  a 
disguise,  because  women  of  fashion  are  not  presumed  to  at- 
tend the  theatre.  The  young,  handsome  dandy  behind,  with 
the  dashing  robe  and  Apollo  curls,  is  the  young  Alcibiades, 
very  clever,  very  rich,  and  very  much  of  a  roue.     He,  not  so 


120  THE   AGE   OF  PERICLES. 

young,  but  as  much  of  an  exquisite,  who  is  whispering  with 
curled  lips  some  caustic  joke  into  his  ear,  is  Aristophanes,  the 
most  perfect  master  of  the  Greek  language,  the  most  unscru- 
pulous satirist,  and  the  best  punster  ever  known.  There,  too, 
is  a  crowd  of  artists,  honorably  seated  in  reward  of  their  ge- 
nius ;  but  you  will  look  in  vain  among  them  for  Phidias.  He 
has  been  banished,  with  his  teacher  Anaxagoras,  on  a  false 
charge  of  treason,  and  is  now  at  Elis,  revenging  himself  upon 
ungrateful  Athens,  by  the  execution  of  his  Jupiter  Olympius, 
the  greatest  work  of  antiquity. 

The  catalogue  cannot  be  completed  here.  These  were  but 
a  few  of  the  Athenian  names  which  gave  glory  to  the  Age  of 
Pericles,  and  are  yet  written  high  on  the  pillars  of  fame. 

The  scenes  of  all  this  splendor  have  long  since  passed  away. 
The  beautiful  sky  and  the  clear  atmosphere  are  still  there. 
Time  has  dealt  kindly  with  the  artists'  trophies,  not  daring 
even  to  dim  the  sparkling  purity  of  the  marble  hallowed  by 
the  chisel  of  Mnesicles  and  Phidias.  But  the  Goth  and  the 
Venetian  and  the  Turk  have  been  more  cruel,  and  the  Briton 
most  cruel  of  all.  English  gold  bought  the  sacrilegious  privi- 
lege of  wrenching  from  metopse,  frieze  and  pediment,  what 
time  and  the  barbarian  had  spared.  The  turbaned  representa- 
tive of  Moslem  oppression  dropped  a  tear  as  the  last  image  of 
all  those  beautiful  creations  was  torn  from  the  wall  upon  which, 
with  its  companions  of  superhuman  beauty,  it  had  seemed  to 
live  for  more  than  two  thousand  years.  "  TeXog  !"  exclaimed 
the  Disdar  Aga  of  Athens,  as  he  saw  it  fall,  from  the  very 
spot  where  the  Olympian  may  have  stood  to  admire  his  fin- 
ished monument  of  Athenian  skill,  magnificence   and  taste. 


THE    AGE    OF   PERICLES.  121 

The  shattered  forms  of  that  immortal  dream  of  genius,  which 
Callicrates  and  Ictinus  had  translated  into  living  Pentelican, 
are  now  ranged  along  the  mean  walls  of  a  sombre  gallery,  in 
smoky,  misty  London,  never  again  to  reflect  from  their  spark- 
ling snow  the  sun  of  Greece,  which  had  smiled  upon  them  in 
cherishing  love.  The  Parthenon,  like  Niobe  in  her  stony  and 
majestic  wo,  throws  the  shadow  of  her  desolation  over  the  dust 
of  the  glory  of  Greece.  Athens  lies  prostrate  on  the  Attic 
shore,  dishonored,  broken,  stained  by  the  foot  of  the  spoiler, 
and  blackened  by  the  torch,  yet  retaining  in  each  insulted  fea- 
ture, each  fractured  limb,  each  fold  of  drapery,  a  dignity, 
serenity  and  grace,  that  win  admiring  wonder  for  her  bygone 
loveliness,  and  tears  for  her  decay. 

"  He  who  hath  bent  him  o'er  the  dead, 
Ere  the  first  day  of  death  is  fled, 
The  first  dark  day  of  nothingness. 
The  last  of  danger  and  distress  ; 
Before  decay's  eff"acing  fingers 
Have  swept  the  lines  where  beauty  lingers, 
And  marked  the  mild,  angelic  air, 
The  rapture  of  repose  that's  there. 
The  fixed  yet  tender  traits  that  streak 
The  languor  of  that  pallid  cheek ;  — 
And  but  for  that  sad,  shrouded  eye, 
That  fires  not,  wins  not,  weeps  not  now. 
And  but  for  that  chill,  changeless  brow, 
Where  '  cold  obstruction's'  apathy 
Appals  the  gazing  mourner's  heart, 
As  if  to  him  it  would  impart 
The  doom  he  dreads  yet  dwells  upon,  — 
Some  moments,  aye,  a  treacherous  hour, 
11 


122  THE   AGE    OF  PERICLES. 

He  still  might  doubt  the  tyrant's  power, 
So  fair,  so  calm,  so  softly  sealed, 
The  first,  last  look  by  death  revealed. 

Such  is  the  aspect  of  that  show, 
'Tis  Greece,  but  living  Greece  no  more. 
So  coldly  sweet,  so  deadly  fair 
We  start,  for  soul  is  wanting  there  — 
Hers  is  the  loveliness  of  death, 
That  parts  not  with  the  parting  breath, 
But  beauty  with  that  fearful  bloom. 
The  hue  which  haunts  it  to  the  tomb, 
A  halo  circling  round  decay. 
Expression's  last  receding  ray. 
The  farewell  beam  of  feeling  past  away, 
Spark  of  that  flame,  perchance  of  heavenly  birth, 
"Which  gleams  but  warms  no  more  its  cherished  earth. 
Clime  of  the  unforgotten  brave. 
Whose  land  from  shore  to  mountain-cave, 
Was  Freedom's  home  or  Glory's  grave. 
Shrine  of  the  mighty,  can  it  be 
That  this  is  all  remains  of  thee !" 


Yet  there  is  a  light  now  falling  softly  and  sweetly  upon 
prostrate  Athens  —  not  the  dying  ray  of  mortal  genius,  but 
the  breaking  Hght  of  heaven-sent  hope.  There  is  a  lamp 
burning  within  that  mournful  sepulchre,  the  Word  of  Life  and 
Immortality,  held  forth  by  the  hand  of  American  piety,  and 
fed  by  the  zeal  of  American  Christians.  Under  the  shadow 
of  the  Acropolis  humble  missionaries  of  the  cross,  from  this 
western  land,  tell  the  children  of  those  who  wandered  through 
the  groves  of  the  academy,  or  lingered  around  the  teacher  of 


THE   AGE    OP  PERICLES.  123 

the  porch,  that  the  Just  Man  of  Plato  hath  come  ;  that  Divine 
Virtue,  in  all  the  sympathies  of  human  trial  and  duty,  has 
passed  triumphant  by  the  ordeal  he  proposed,  of  contempt  and 
slander,  the  scourge  and  the  cross ;  that  the  Master  whom 
Socrates  promised  to  the  young  Alcibiades,  as  the  guide  in  the 
path  of  prayer  that  leads  to  heaven,  is  now  the  Intercessor 
and  Advocate  of  all  earth's  supplicants,  and  that  "  the  Un- 
known God,  whom  their  fathers  ignorantly  worshiped,"  is  now 
made  manifest  by  the  faith  of  Jesus.  The  young  Athenians, 
in  a  school  where  the  lisping  child  is  wiser  than  the  best  an- 
cient that  ever  grew  hoary  in  the  love  of  wisdom,  recite  the 
words  of  Jesus  in  the  sonorous  accents  of  Demosthenes  and 
Lysias,  or  chant  their  Christian  hymns  in  the  liquid  measures 
of  Alcaeus  and  Pindar,  amid  the  ruins  which  once  echoed  to 
the  boisterous  Phallic  and  the  thundering  Dithyramb. 

How  poor,  is  the  art  and  fame  of  Phidias  beside  those  hum- 
ble missionaries,  as  they  mould  immortal  mind  in  the  image 
of  the  Son  of  God,  refine  its  beauty  to  adorn  the  inner  shrine 
of  heaven,  and  bring  down  by  far  reaching  prayer  fire  from 
the  skies  to  animate  their  work !  How  feeble  are  the  glories 
of  the  Theseon  and  the  Parthenon  beside  the  temple  they  are 
building  of  living  stones,  hewn  and  polished  from  the  quarry 
of  ignorance  and  sin,  and  "  built  upon  the  foundation  of  apos- 
tles and  prophets,  Jesus  Christ  himself  being  the  chief  corner 
stone,"  "  for  an  habitation  of  God  through  the  Spirit."  The 
Pentelican  and  the  Parian  shall  crumble  amid  the  fires  of  the 
final  change,  the  shrine-capt  hills  sink  beneath  the  flood  of 
Time's  last  destiny,  but  then  shall  that  temple  stand  upon  the 
Zion  of  God  imperishable,  and  radiating  eternal  glory. 


124  THE   AGE    OF   PERICLES. 

Beautiful  Religion !  which,  kneeling  before  the  cross  and 
the  altar,  feels  the  "outrushing  inspiration  of  love  for  the  souls 
of  distant  and  unknown  men,  and  clasps  in  the  faith  of  broth- 
erhood those  upon  whose  faces  we  have  never  looked;  which 
converts  the  price  of  selfish  and  useless  luxuries  into  riches  of 
wisdom  for  the  poor  in  knowledge  ;  which  goes  forth  with  a 
martyr's  heroism  to  win  victories  of  mercy  over  ransomed 
minds ;  which  pursues  its  triumphal  way  to  the  heavenly  gate, 
surrounded  and  followed,  not  by  bloody  trophies  and  chained 
captives,  but  by  thankful  penitents,  widows  smiling  in  their 
sackcloth,  orphans  rosy  with  joy,  and  heathen  blessing  the 
name  of  Jesus  !  "What  have  Arms,  Arts,  Letters,  Philosophy 
like  this  ?  Would  that  this  religion  sanctified  and  ennobled 
us  all ! 

Lovely  wert  thou,  Athens,  in  thy  classic  grace !  The  very 
dust  of  thy  marbles  is  precious  in  our  eyes,  for  the  feet  of 
those  have  walked  upon  it  who  have  been  the  friends  of  pleas- 
ant hours  in  the  morning  dream,  or  when  the  midnight  lamp 
shed  its  light  upon  the  yellow  page  their  genius  made  vocal 
with  thought  and  the  melody  of  numbers.  But  thine  was  the 
beauty  of  a  sepulchre,  for  the  corruption  was  deep  within 
thee.  Fain  would  we  turn  the  eyes  of  aU  who  read  this  story 
of  Athens,  to  gaze,  in  hope  of  an  inheritance  within  it,  upon 
that  city  of  God,  built  for  his  people,  beautiful  as  love,  lasting 
as  immortality,  and  holy  as  Himself ! 


AN 


ORATION 


THE    PHILOMATHEAN    SOCIETY 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA, 


NOVEMBER  30th,  1840. 


PUBLISHED   AT   THEIR   REQUEST. 


11* 


ORATION. 


Gentlemen, 

Members  of  the  Philomathean  Society 

of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania, 
It  was  a  happy  inspiration  which  first  suggested  the  de- 
livery of  these  addresses.  Happy  it  must  be  for  you  thus  to 
be  assured  of  sympathy  from  your  elder  brothers  in  study, 
and  happy,  I  am  sure,  for  us,  who,  covered  with  the  dust  of 
crowded  thoroughfares,  and  worn  with  the  burdens  of  public 
duty,  are  permitted  to  separate  ourselves,  though  but  for  a 
brief  hour,  from  the  busy  people,  and  retire  again  under  the 
cool  shades  of  academic  life.  We  may  not  be  allowed  to  say 
that  we  envy  you  your  fresh  spirits  and  classic  exercitations, 
for  it  were  unmanly  and  unchristian  to  shrink,  even  in 
thought,  from  the  offices  which  God  and  our  fellow-men  re- 
quire at  our  hands,  and  sobriety  of  zeal  best  becomes  them ; 
but  you  cannot  know,  until  you  have  felt  it,  the  zest  with 
which  memory  turns  in  after  hfe  to  our  growing  years,  and 
the  intellectual  Palaestra,  where  by  generous  emulation  we 
trained  the  sinews  of  our  youthful  minds,  and  warmed  the 
courage  of  our  hearts  for  the  serious  struggles  of  active  man- 
hood.   To  some  of  us  the  retrospect  is  sad ;  not  that  the  days 


128  ORATION. 

of  our  youth  are  gone  by ;  it  is  the  lot  of  mortals  to  change 
and  pass  away ;  but  that  we  availed  ourselves  so  little  of  the 
fair  occasions  and  rich  opportunities  which  have  gone  with 
them.  The  time  is  yet  yours  when  you  may  sow  in  hope. 
We  are  already  gathering  our  harvest,  and  its  scantiness  too 
keenly  convinces  us,  that  the  regrets  and  labors  of  later  life 
can  but  poorly  make  up  for  the  neglects  of  youth. 

It  is  in  youth  that  the  rudiments  of  knowledge  must  be  laid 
deep  within  us,  for  which  Kttle  time  can  be  spared  from  the 
necessities  of  actual  application.  The  proper  purpose  of  edu- 
cation is  not  to  acquaint  the  young  mind  with  all  that  can  be 
known ;  for  the  searching  soul  shall  never  cease  learning  in 
this  life  or  the  immortality  which  is  to  come ;  but  to  call  forth 
its  nascent  powers,  and  furnishing  the  clew  and  methods  by 
which  inquiry  may  be  wisely  and  most  profitably  pursued,  to 
impel  them  on  to  the  pursuit.  The  man,  without  such  an 
advantage,  however  studiously  he  may  be  inclined,  is  like  one 
entering  a  vast  library  stored  full  of  the  best  treatises  and  de- 
monstrations, yet  having  no  catalogue  by  which  to  discover 
the  volumes  that  contain  the  science  he  seeks.  Uneducated 
genius  may  accomplish  much  from  its  innate  impulsiveness 
and  foresight ;  but  none  can  tell  how  much  more  it  might 
have  accomplished  under  the  direction  of  sober  rule ;  and  the 
world  has  great  reason  to  mourn  over  the  time,  the  energy, 
and  the  paper,  which  has  been  worse  than  wasted  by  gifted 
men  in  the  revival  of  exploded  errors,  and  the  assertion  of 
crude  though  perhaps  dazzhng  hypotheses.  But  for  such, 
man  might  have  been  ever  going  on  in  the  way  of  truth,  in- 
stead of  wandering  so  often  after  ignes  fatui,  which  spring 


OKATION.  129 

from  darkness  and  unhealthy  damps  (locis  paludosis  et  tetri- 
cosis),  or  being  lost  in  the  dust  thrown  up  by  scuffling  polem- 
ics and  their  puppet-like  partisans.  That  teacher  makes  a 
grave  mistake  who  bids  his  pupils  to  think  independently  for 
themselves  at  once.  The  human  mind,  so  liable  to  err  at 
sixty,  is  not  infallible  at  twenty-one,  or  even  before  that  im- 
portant period.  We  must  first  be  taught  how  to  think.  No 
mechanic  would  permit  his  apprentice  to  handle  keen-edged 
tools  at  his  own  untaught  discretion,  as  he  might  do  more  exe- 
cution upon  his  own  fingers  than  elsewhere ;  but  the  faculties 
of  our  minds  are  far  more  dangerous  to  ourselves  than  sharp- 
ened steel,  and  mental  and  moral  suicide  has  often  been  the 
end  of  those  who  have  used  them  in  rash  and  ignorant  self- 
confidence.  To  think  well  we  must  know  the  rules  of  think- 
ing ;  and  the  best  method  of  learning  those  rules,  under  the 
blessing  of  Heaven,  is  to  inquire  how  the  mighty  minds  of  the 
past  have  thought  before  us.  An  itch  after  novelties  is  mis- 
taken by  some  for  a  sort  of  heavenly  inspiration,  lifting  the 
soul,  above  the  necessity  of  those  slow  and  vulgar  methods, 
logic  and  induction,  by  which  Aristotle  and  Bacon  crept  to- 
wards the  truth ;  but  if  we  are  forced  to  admit  that  there  is 
anything  sacred  about  it,  let  it  be  called  ignis  sacer,  which  is 
Pliny's  name  for  St.  Anthony's  fire.* 

It  is  in  youth  those  habits,  which  constitute  character, 
should  be  carefully  and  religiously  formed,  that  the  time  and 
pains  necessary  for  the  confirmation  of  the  good  may  not  be 
lost  in  correcting  the  bad,  if  indeed  they  can  ever  be  wholly 
eradicated.     The  lower  tendencies  of  our  nature  early  strug- 

*  Plin.  xxvi.  11. 


130  ORATION. 

gle  to  gain  power  over  us,  and  can  be  repressed  only  by  pre- 
occupying the  heart  and  mind  with  higher  aspirations  and  en- 
gagements. Idleness  is  never  long  innocent.  We  must  be 
doing  something,  and  if  what  we  do  be  not  good,  it  will  cer- 
tainly be  evil. 

Quffiritis  ^gisthus,  quare  sit  factus  adulter  ? 
In  promptu  causa  est,  desidiosus  erat.* 

Or,  as  quaint  Richard  Baxter  says,  (if  one  may  quote  him  so 
close  to  Ovid,)  "  An  idle  man's  brains  are  the  devil's  work- 
shop ;"  which  good  Dr.  Watts  renders  in  his  Divine  Songs 
for  Infant  Minds,  (a  Uttle  book  many  grown  persons  might  be 
wiser  for  getting  by  heart,) 

Satan  finds  some  mischief  still 
For  idle  hands  to  do. 

But  independently  of  this,  the  habit  of  labor  is  essential  to 
success.  The  primeval  curse,  "  In  the  sweat  of  thy  face  shalt 
thou  eat  bread,"  is  upon  us  all,  though  by  a  wise  submission 
it  may  be  turned  into  blessing. 

It  is  true  of  the  physical  world.  Nil  sine  sudore.  That  is 
worth  nothing  which  cost  nothing.  We  may,  perhaps,  pass  it 
upon  the  ignorance  of  others  as  of  value,  but  we  defraud 
them  when  we  do  so.  Vain  shall  ever  be  found  all  expe- 
dients, however  plausible,  to  enrich  a  country,  otherwise  than 
from  the  products  of  toil.  Credit  is  very  useful  in  its  sphere, 
but  promises  can  never  supply  the  place  of  what  the  earth 
yields  only  to  the  laboring  hand.     We  can  neither  eat  them 

*  Ovid:  Eemed.  Am.  161,  162. 


ORATION,  131 

nor  wear  them,  nor  can  they  long  pay  debts.  But  it  is  be- 
yond the  power  of  the  worst  tyranny  to  impoverish  an  intelli- 
gent and  industrious  people.  That  sense  of  self-approving  in- 
dependence, which  springs  from  the  consciousness  of  owing 
no  man  anything  and  of  having  earned  one's  bread,  trains  the 
soul  to  an  indomitable  courage ;  and  the  labor  which  gave  it, 
has  already  nerved  the  arm  to  strike  down  the  oppressor. 
The  God  of  righteousness  loves  the  honest  man,  and  the  God 
of  battles  fights  on  his  side.  It  is  he,  whose  self-imposed  ne- 
cessities have  made  him  dependent  upon  the  caprice  of  others, 
whose  hand  is  open  to  the  bribe,  but  dares  not  grasp  the  sword. 
It  is  true  of  the  moral  world.  There  is  but  little  merit  in 
doing  well  when  it  is  easy  to  do  well.  Our  word  virtue,  from 
the  Latin  virtus,  shows  that  its  practice  demands  courage  and 
energy.  "Better  is  he  that  ruleth  his  spirit  than  he  that 
taketh  a  city."  It  is  easy  to  let  loose  the  tiger  in  our  hearts, 
and  to  grapple  with  a  foe  in  desperation  or  hate ;  but  it  is 
hard  to  deny  the  uneasiness  of  evil  desire,  to  beat  down  in- 
surgent appetite,  to  crucify  a  bitter  passion,  to  keep  an  un- 
weary  watch  against  subtle  temptation,  to  maintain  our  integ- 
rity when  we  get  no  return  from  the  world  but  malice,  and  to 
remain  steadfast  with  the  faithful  few  against  the  jeers  of  the 
profligate  many.  Fabricius  with  his  dinner  of  herbs,  after  he 
had  sent  back  the  bribes  of  Pyrrhus,  shows  a  better  dignity  than 
Coriolanus  at  the  head  of  the  Volscian  armies  before  aflPrighted 
Rome ;  nor  was  the  conqueror  of  Hannibal  ever  so  great  as 
when  he  dismissed  his  Carthaginian  captive  safe  in  her  un- 
polluted beauty.  Such  self-denial  is  not  the  impulse  of  a 
moment.     It  is  the  heroic  triumph  of  long  self-resistance.     It 


132  ORATION. 

is  the  noble  ostentation  of  victory  after  many  an  inward  bat- 
tle. It  is  the  blessed  reward  of  labor,  hard,  constant,  and  un- 
flinching, in  rooting  out  pernicious  sin,  and  in  cultivating  the 
impeded  growth  of  good  principles.  Without  the  habit  of  such 
moral  labor  within  ourselves,  formed  in  youth,  and  assidu- 
ously cultivated,  we  shall  never  have  the  nerve  to  resist  a 
present  temptation,  nor  the  strength  to  persevere  in  the  right 
and  the  honorable. 

I  have  spoken  rather  of  the  passive  virtues,  as  they  are 
called,  than  of  the  active,  because  those  are  the  more  difficult 
and  rare,  and  when  they  prevail  in  the  soul,  the  others 
are  never  wanting.  Obedience  is  best  learned  by  the 
things  that  we  suffer.  The  language  of  inspiration  confirms 
this  necessity  of  moral  labor  to  the  maintenance  of  sufficient 
virtue.  He  who  would  enter  into  the  right  way  by  the  strait 
gate,  must  strive  to  put  off  criminal  self,  before  his  soul  can 
find  space  to  pass  through.  He  that  would  attain  immortal 
life  and  honor  must  be  a  follower  until  death  of  the  Man  of 
sorrows,  who  worked  while  it  was  day ;  who,  as  he  went  about 
doing  good,  kept  up  a  constant  fight  with  temptation,  and  who 
passed  from  the  ignominy  of  the  cross  he  had  made  illustrious 
by  his  meekness,  to  a  coronation  of  glory  as  the  Lord  our 
Righteousness.  It  was  not  the  fire  that  made  the  martyr, 
but  the  heaven-trained  spirit  which  triumphed  over  the  flame 
in  the  pureness  of  its  charity.  This  "  made  the  crowns  of  the 
suffering  ones  splendid,  gave  them  a  majesty  of  shine  and  an 
imperial  glory."*  Their  trials  were  first  the  school,  and  then 
the  happy  occasions  of  their  virtue.     They  are  now  ranked 

*  Richard  AUestree. 


ORATION.  133 

before  cherubim  and  seraphim,  the  most  noble  army  of  the 
living  God,  Those  who  die  in  the  Lord  are  they  who  then 
" rest  from  their  labors;  and  their  works  do  follow  them." 
Emulate  their  example,  and  you  shall  share  in  their  reward. 
Nor  forget  that  our  own  strength  must  ever  be  found  unequal 
to  the  duty ;  but  ask  strength  from  on  high,  a  right  spirit  and 
a  new  heart,  the  true  mens  divinior,  which  God  alone  can. 
bestow. 

It  is  true  of  the  intellectual  world.  The  heights  of  science 
are  steep,  and  to  ascend  them  we  must,  like  the  mountaineer, 
be  strong  and  sturdy.  Without  a  habit  of  patient  application, 
no  mind  has  ever  attained  decided  greatness  in  any  walk. 
Such  has  been  the  progress  of  knowledge,  that  no  genius, 
however  vigorous,  can  at  once  leap  to  the  advance.  Every 
new  step  onward  (for  I  speak  not  of  eccentricities  to  the  right 
or  left,  which  astonish  the  vulgar,  and  by  none  but  them  are 
mistaken  for  originality,)  is  more  difficult  than  the  last.  "We 
may  easily  become  notorious  by  startling  errors,  but  to  excel 
in  the  one  path  of  truth,  which  has  been  and  is  trodden  by  so 
many  master  spirits,  nay,  to  follow  them,  even  at  a  long  in- 
terval, requires  not  only  boldness  but  endurance.  That  en- 
durance cannot  come  except  from  a  habit  of  labor,  early  ac- 
quired and  steadily  maintained.  Posse  tollere  taurum  qui  vi- 
tulum  sustulerit.  It  was  by  beginning  when  a  boy,  to  carry  a 
suckling  heifer,  that  the  shoulders  of  Milo,  the  Crotonian,  be- 
came strong  enough  to  carry  an  ox.  The  Olympic  Athlete 
was  crowned,  not  for  that  day's  victory,  but  for  seven  long 
years  of  determined,  constant  training,  which  enabled  him  to 
win  it.  Thus  must  the  mind  be  disciplined. 
12 


134  ORATION. 

It  has  passed  into  a  proverb,  that  precocious  youth  rarely 
makes  an  able  manhood ;  and  some  physiologists  will  say, 
that  it  is  because  the  brain  is  early  overwrought;  but,  gene- 
rally, the  true  reason  may  be  found  in  the  want  of  this  habit 
of  labor.  Facility  of  memory  and  quickness  of  perception 
render  the  lad's  tasks  easy  and  allow  him  much  hurtful  lei- 
sure for  relaxing  indulgences ;  while  the  growth  of  indolence 
is  less  marked  from  the  readiness  with  which  he  excels  his 
slower  companions ;  nay,  often  his  over-anxious  Mamma 
rather  dissuades  her  prodigy  from  study,  lest  hke  the  self- 
burning  tree  of  Guinea  he  should  be  consumed  by  the  fire  of 
his  own  genius,  and  the  world  lose  the  advantage  of  his  ma- 
ture greatness  by  such  a  melancholy  instance  of  spontaneous 
combustion.  Naturally  the  idol  of  friends  and  teachers,  he 
becomes  presumptuous  upon  his  powers,  and  contemns  the 
necessity  of  steady  exertion,  until  the  severer  trials  of  active 
life  come  upon  him,  and  then  it  is  too  late  to  remedy  the  fatal 
neglect.  The  very  dunce  of  his  class,  if  studious  and  perse- 
vering, will  leave  him  far  behind  in  respectable  usefulness. 
It  is  in  this  way,  that  early  talent,  given  by  God  as  a  bless- 
ing, is  not  unfrequently  made  a  curse.  There  have  been  tew 
great  men  who  did  not  give  promise  of  greatness  in  childhood. 
Melanchthon  at  twenty-one  was,  in  Greek,  the  master  of  Lu- 
ther, then  a  Doctor  of  Divinity.  Luther  himself  was  noted 
for  his  youthful  learning ;  and  yet  we  do  not  find  that  either 
Melanchthon,  or  Luther,  or  Erasmus  (most  precocious  of  the 
three,)  was  made  an  idiot  by  an  overwrought  brain.  It  were 
most  unkind  to  smile  at  the  fears  of  fond  parents  ;  but  they 
may  rest  assured,  that  there  is  less  danger  for  their  young 


ORATION.  135 

Gracchi,  to  be  apprehended  from  laborious  reading,  than  from 
surfeits  upon  sweetmeats  and  compliments,  or  a  dandyism  in 
premature  long  coats  and  Chestnut  Street  exhibitions. 

Besides,  without  labor,  we  cannot  acquire  the  power  of 
abstraction,  so  necessary  to  withdraw  the  inquirer  from  the 
temptation  of  present  pleasure,  the  bias  of  prejudice,  the  cor- 
ruption of  selfish  interest,  and  the  many  distracting  imperti- 
nences of  the  surrounding  world.  To  know  truth  aright,  we 
must  be  alone  and  candid  with  it  as  the  Christian  with  his 
God.  We  must  understand  our  subject  in  all  its  bearings, 
yet  stript  of  all  delusive  circumstances.  We  must  collect  our 
scattered  thoughts,  and  condense  them  as  through  a  lens  upon 
it.  But  to  do  this,  we  must  first  have  obtained  an  habitual 
mastery  over  our  senses,  passions,  and  faculties,  which  was 
never  yet  obtained  without  many  a  conflict.  You  know  not, 
and  God  grant  that  you  may  never  know,  the  inward  anguish 
and  shame  which  a  mind,  not  unconscious  of  natural  force,  but 
idle  from  habit,  and  unfurnished  from  idleness,  feels,  when 
seeing  open  opportunities  for  honorable  enterprise,  it  is  com- 
pelled to  forego  the  advantage,  because  unequal  to  an  effort 
which  others  make  with  ease.  Years  of  idle  pleasure  are 
dearly  bought  by  one  pang  of  such  self-reproach. 

Shrink  not  then,  mj  young  friends,  from  labor.  Wrestle 
mostly  with  the  strong,  and  you  shall  yourselves  be  strong. 
It  was  a  significant  fable  which  made  the  founder  of  Rome 
the  son  of  a  god,  but  suckled  him  at  no  tender  breast.  His 
was  a  rough  nurse,  but  a  faithful  one,  and  such  is  difficulty. 
God  knows  our  frame,  and,  though  he  has  given  us  faculties 
to  aspire,  he  hath  made  excellence  the  reward  and  attainment 
of  educated  strength,  which  grows  by  exertion. 


136  ORATION. 

Pater  ipse  colendi 

Haudfacilem  esse  viam  voluit 

curis  acuens  mortalia  corda.* 

It  is  the  consciousness  but  too  many  of  us  feel,  that  we  did  not 
then  sufficiently  fix  ourselves  in  these  habits  of  industry,  which 
saddens  our  memory  of  youth.  Learn  from  our  errors.  Re- 
gard yourselves,  even  now,  as  the  men  who  must  soon  bear 
the  honorable  burdens  of  society,  and  as  immortal  men,  the 
responsible  servants  of  a  good  but  just  God.  Every  hour 
carelessly  wasted  sows  seeds  of  regret  for  future  years.  Every 
hour  of  earnest  study  will  yield  fruits  of  mature  satisfaction. 
Every  hour  of  communion  with  God,  and  practice  of  his  pre- 
cepts by  divine  help,  has  the  earnest  of  an  eternal  reward. 

But,  while  we  make  these  confessions  for  your  advantage, 
a  great  comfort  is  left  us.  We  did  not,  as  many  have  done, 
and  as  you  may  be  tempted  to  do,  abandon  the  pursuit  of  a 
liberal  education  from  temporary  weariness  or  disgust.  It  is 
but  natural  for  a  youth,  full  of  fresh  spirits,  sometimes  to  tire 
of  his  quiet  books,  and  persuade  himself  that  such  severe  ap- 
plication to  the  study  of  science  and  letters  is  unnecessary  to 
success  in  life  ;  or  that,  from  the  windows  of  his  seclusion,  he 
should  look  with  a  degree  of  envy  upon  his  equals  in  years, 
already  bustling  with  Lilliputian  self-importance  about  the 
precincts  of  trade.  It  is,  however,  very  unhappy,  if  the  pa- 
rent yield  to  the  solicitations  of  his  inexperienced  son,  and 
permit  him  to  withdraw  from  the  honorable  course,  upon 
which  he  entered  him  with  high  hopes  of  his  future  distinction. 

*  Virgil.  Geor.  T.  121—3. 


ORATION.  137 

Allow  me  to  forewarn  you  against  such  ignoble  weakness ; 
and,  if  I  may  be  heard  by  the  guardians  of  your  welfare,  to 
dissuade  them  from  consenting  to  such  wishes,  should  they 
arise  in  your  minds. 

Even  should  you  not  choose  a  learned  profession,  you  will 
need  all  the  advantages  which  a  full  course  of  liberal  study 
can  give  you.  I  speak  with  all  possible  respect  for  trade  and 
commerce.  The  prejudice  of  dark  ages,  when  a  false  aris- 
tocracy contemned  labor  in  any  form  as  a  dishonorable 
necessity,  is  passing  away,  and  should  have  no  place  in  a 
philosophical  or  republican  mind.  To  determine  a  man's  po- 
sition in  society  by  the  honest  calling  he  follows  in  life,  is  as 
contrary  to  the  justice  of  good  sense,  as  it  is  to  the  genius  of 
our  political  system.  The  petty  distinctions  of  social  rank, 
which  have  obtained  in  this  country,  excite  the  deserved  ridi- 
cule of  calm  observers  from  other  lands.  Nothing  can  be 
more  absurd  than  pride  of  family,  in  people  who  scarcely 
know  the  birth-place  of  their  grandfathers ;  or  an  assertion  of 
superior  nobility,  by  one  who  sells  cloth  in  packages,  over 
another  who  sells  ribands  by  the  yard ;  or  by  the  importer  of 
bristles  in  hogsheads,  or  of  hides  in  cargoes,  over  him  who 
makes  brushes  or  shoes ;  or  by  the  professional  man  over 
either,  when  he  is  in  reality  the  paid  servant  of  all.  We  are 
members  of  one  body,  necessarily  dependent  upon,  and  con- 
tributive  to  each  other's  well-being.  To  look  down  upon  a 
neighbor  because  his  way  of  serving  the  community  differs 
from  our  own,  is  to  despise  ourselves.  We  should  own  no 
superiority  but  that  of  age,  worth,  and  wisdom.  The  highest 
officer  of  our  government  is  entitled  to  honor  only  as  he  faith- 

12* 


138  ORATION. 

fully  ministers  to  the  people's  good ;  and  for  one,  without  any 
reference  to  parties  or  individuals,  1  can  see  no  humiliation  in 
the  retirement  of  a  statesman,  conscious  of  truth,  from  his  lost 
magistracy  to  his  farm ;  while  I  rejoice  that  there  is  but  a 
single  step  from  the  log-cabin  to  the  Capitol.  It  proves  the 
working  like  leaven  of  that  blessed  doctrine  which  our  fathers 
wrote  upon  the  bond  of  our  confederacy ;  the  native  equality 
of  the  people. 

Yet,  certainly,  cultivated  intelligence  is,  as  it  should  be, 
necessary  to  real  respectabiUty.  The  mere  merchant  is  little 
better  than  a  common  carrier,  and  the  mere  mechanic  than  an 
animated  machine,  convenient  and  useful  in  supplying  the 
needs  and  luxuries  of  the  community.  To  win  our  trust  and 
deference,  they  must  prove  themselves  mentally  and  morally 
worthy  of  it.  It  is  when,  leaving  behind  them,  with  the  dust 
of  their  warehouses  and  workshops,  the  thirst  for  gain,  they 
show  a  liberal  sympathy  and  a  wise  zeal  for  social  advance- 
ment ;  when  the  wealth  they  may  have  acquired  is  devoted 
not  to  ostentatious  display,  but  to  the  patronage  of  art,  the 
furtherance  of  learning,  science  and  religion ;  and  when  the 
poor  receive  their  unreluctant  aid,  the  stranger  their  cheering 
hospitality,  and  every  man  their  kindly  courtesy,  that  we  own 
them  as  brothers  in  their  manhood,  and  venerate  them  as 
fathers  after  their  heads  are  crowned  with  a  righteous  hoari- 
ness.  To  acquire  the  elements  of  such  a  character  some  years 
may  well  be  spent  in  cultivating  a  taste  for  graceful  thought, 
habits  of  philosophical  observation,  and  sound  notions  of  Chris- 
tian, political  and  economical  ethics. 

It  is  sometimes  said,  that  classical  and  kindred  studies, 


ORATION.  139 

with  the  associations  they  inspire,  unfit  the  mind  for  the 
business  of  a  rude  and  sordid  world ;  but  on  the  contrary,  their 
influence  is  greatly  needed  to  restrain  and  chasten  it  from 
contamination.  The  youth,  who  enters  upon  the  bustling 
scene  before  his  heart  and  judgment  are  instructed  in  better 
things,  and  fortified  against  temptation  by  generous  thoughts 
within,  soon  may  learn  to  regard  dollars  and  cents  as  the 
gods  of  his  idolatry,  and  embracing  the  maxims  of  cunning 
selfishness  which  prevail  around  him,  make  his  personal  ag- 
grandizement or  low  indulgence,  the  rule  and  aim  of  his  en- 
deavors. Far  difl^erent  will  it  be  with  him,  whose  leisure 
is  spent  with  the  books  and  intellectual  converse  he  early 
learned  to  appreciate  and  love.  He  carries  with  him,  wher- 
ever he  goes,  wise  reflections  on  the  past,  large  views  of  his 
social  responsibilities,  and  aspiring  hopes  of  a  future  and  spirit- 
ual reward.  Him,  success  will  never  make  insane  with  pride, 
nor  adversity  overtake  without  strong  consolation. 

Sperat  infestis,  metuit  secundis, 
Alteram  sortem  bene  preparatum 
Pectus * 

He  can  go  forth  from  the  ruin  which  is  fatal  to  other  men, 
like  the  philosopher  of  old  from  the  burning  city  of  his  home, 
saying ;  "  Me-ipsum  porto,"  knowing  that  he  has  a  wealth  in 
his  soul  the  world  gave  not  and  cannot  take  away. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  dwell  upon  the  value  of  polite  learn- 
ing to  the  professional  man.     "Without  it  he  can  never  well 

*  Hor.  Car.  II.  10. 


140  ORATION. 

sustain  the  position  in  society,  which  is  accorded  to  his  pro- 
fession. Great  talent  and  industry  are  not  sufficient  to  cover 
entirely  the  defect,  and,  often  make  it  more  apparent.  An 
illiterate  or  half  educated  physician,  lawyer  or  clergyman, 
whatever  may  be  his  skill,  acuteness  or  worth,  is  ever  apt  to 
betray  his  early  disadvantages,  and  to  be  regarded  with  a  pity 
not  distantly  allied  to  contempt;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  fa- 
miliarity with  good  authors,  gives  an  easy  grace  and  smooth- 
ness to  thought,  language  and  even  manner,  which  win,  when 
stronger  qualities  might  fail  to  force  their  way.  The  keenly 
polished  scimitar  of  Damascus  steel,  in  the  hand  of  the  slender 
but  accomplished  Saladin,  was,  as  the  instructive  novelist  tells 
us,  a  weapon  not  less  effective  than  the  mighty  sword  wielded 
by  the  giant  strength  of  his  lion-hearted  rival.  No  one,  who 
has  had  experience  in  these  engagements,  ever  regrets  an 
hour  of  his  preparation,  though  many  have  lamented,  when 
too  late,  having  made  it  too  brief. 

Nor  become  impatient  of  paying  close  attention  now  to  rvle 
and  method.  There  can  be  no  excellence  without  a  funda- 
mental knowledge  of  those  details ;  and  early  usage  in  such 
elements  is  required,  as  Quintilian  expressed  it,  "  Non  modo 
acuere  ingenia  puerilia,  sed  exercere  altissimam  quoque  eru- 
ditionem  ac  scientiam."*  The  astronomer,  to  the  return  of  a 
comet,  combines  the  simple  rules  of  arithmetic  he  learned  at 
school,  and  the  most  acute  logician  is  dependent  upon  the  first 
principles  of  syntax.  To  reach  the  apex  of  a  pyramid,  the 
traveller  must  begin  at  the  bottom  and  go  upward  step  by 
step.     Man  was  not  made  to  fly,  and  he  who  trusts  himself, 

*  Quin.  Ins.  Orator.  1. 2. 


ORATION.  141 

like  another  Icarus,  to  the  wings  of  an  ill-regulated  imagina- 
tion, may  chance  to  find  a  grave  as  deep  though  less  famous 
than  a  bay  of  the  JEgean. 

There  is  abundant  time  for  this  previous  education.  The 
fault  of  our  youth  is  that  of  their  country.  They  grow  too 
fast,  become  men  and  women  too  soon ;  and,  like  all  hot-bed 
growths,  they  are  likely  to  be  weak  in  the  core.  Our  girls 
have  scarcely  laid  aside  the  bib  of  the  nursery,  before  they 
are  set  at  the  head  of  households ;  and  our  lads  assume  the 
toga  virilis,  when  as  yet  their  prcetexta  should  descend  usque 
ad  talos.  In  the  primitive  ages  the  elders  sat  as  magistrates 
and  counsellors  at  the  gate.  The  Hebrews  fixed  the  entrance 
upon  public  life  at  thirty  years  of  age,  and  the  Athenians  al- 
lowed none  to  speak  in  their  democratic  assemblies,  until  the 
men  of  more  than  fifty  had  spoken.  But  with  us  the  man  of 
fifty  is  looked  upon  as  little  better  than  superannuated,  and  is 
thrust  aside  by  the  stripling  whose  chin  is  unconscious  of  a 
razor,  vociferous  applause  answering  his  tumid  declamation 
and  dashing  theories.  It  is  because  of  this  error,  and  not  the 
lack  of  original  talent,  that  so  many  ruinous  novelties  spring  up 
and  die  at  such  cost  to  the  nation,  and  that  so  little  true  excel- 
lence, and  so  few  thorough  scholars  are  to  be  found  among 
us.  He,  who  delays  his  public  duties  until  the  gristle  of  his 
mind  has  been  hardened  into  bone,  will  be  the  more  valuable 
servant  of  his  country  and  ensure  to  himself  a  later  but  better 
fame.  Be  not  impatient,  young  gentlemen.  It  is  a  long 
course  and  an  arduous,  that  you  have  to  run,  and  you  shall 
lose  nothing  in  the  end  by  taking  the  advice  I  give  you  in  so- 
ber earnestness,  to  "  tarry  here  until  your  beards  be  grown." 


142  ORATION. 

There  are,  doubtless,  those  (though,  I  trust,  none  among 
you)  who  may,  without  loss  to  themselves  or  others,  give  over 
an  attempted  but  unfinished  education.  The  youth,  who  feels 
no  sacred  thirst  for  knowledge,  whose  ear  is  deaf  to  the  voices 
of  nature,  who  reads  without  interest  the  histories  of  past  ages  ; 
for  whom  Homer  has  no  poetry,  Horace  no  grace,  the  impet- 
uous questioning  of  Demosthenes  no  spirit-stirring  charm,  and 
the  full,  sonorous  cadences  of  Cicero  no  majestic  power ;  who 
is  willing  to  remain  on  the  asses'  side  of  Euclid's  bridge  ;  who 
takes  no  more  concern  with  science  than  to  cheat  his  profes- 
sor at  the  recitation,  and  to  whom  the  philosophy  of  mind 
speaks  of  what  he  has  not,  wastes  here  that  time  which  might 
be  better  spent  in  tasks  for  which  his  sluggish  nature  fits  him. 
Let  him  dig,  sweep  the  streets,  carry  burdens,  or,  if  he  have 
fortune,  lounge  through  life  that  public  nuisance,  an  idle  gen- 
tleman.    No  oracle  within  him  says  — 

.    .    .    .    Me  gelidum  nemus 
Nympharumque  leves  cum  satyris  chori 
Secemunt  populo * 

Neither  parental  anxiety  nor  instructor's  skill  can  raise  him 
from  the  degradation  he  feels  not. 

Let  me  here  also  entreat  you  not  to  make  the  common  error 
of  supposing  all  wealth  to  consist  of  money  or  estate,  and  that  he 
only  advances  the  riches  of  his  country,  who  increases  its  ma- 
terial commodities.  If  the  safes  and  strong  vaults  of  banks 
are  reckoned  among  their  valuables,  if  the  courthouses  and 
prisons  of  a  State  be  deemed  necessary  at  a  large  expense,  and 

*  Hor.  Car.  I.  1. 


ORATION.  143 

if  the  wages  of  labor  be  estimated  correctly  only  by  the  com- 
forts they  can  buy ;  surely  they,  who  minister  health  to  the 
sick  by  their  skill,  who  arrange  the  moralities  of  law,  who  in- 
spire by  divine  counsels  the  courage  of  tempted  virtue,  who 
write  with  patient  pen  the  friendly  volume  for  the  hour  of 
leisure,  or  who  explore  and  meditate  upon  the  laws  of  nature, 
that  they  may  direct  toil  to  the  most  ready  and  profitable  em- 
ployment, contribute  largely  to  our  best  possessions.  Their 
harvests  never  fail,  nor  can  the  fire  consume,  nor  the  tempest 
destroy  the  products  of  their  industry.  But  this  doctrine  has 
been  stated  to  you  far  better  than  I  can  do  it,  by  one  to  whose 
teachings  (Jiaud  inexpertus  loquor^  his  pupils  love  to  listen, 
Professor  Vethake,  in  his  acute  Treatise  on  Political  Econo- 
my. I  cannot  speak  what  I  think,  for  he  hears  me ;  but  I 
must  say,  God  bless  him  for  rescuing  the  physician,  the  jurist, 
the  divine,  the  man  of  letters,  and  the  man  of  science,  out  of 
the  same  category  with  jugglers  and  opera  dancers,  where 
previous  economists  had  placed  us  as  unproductive  consum- 
ers !  For  such  nobler  services  you  are  now  qualifying  your- 
selves, and,  if  faithful,  you  shall  find  in  them  an  imperishable 
reward,  the  approbation  of  conscience,  the  esteem  of  good  men, 
and  the  benediction  of  God. 

There  is,  my  young  friends,  an  advantage  you  enjoy  as 
members  of  this  University,  upon  which  I  must  dwell  some- 
what at  length.  I  do  not  now  refer  to  the  ability  and  pater- 
nal zeal  of  your  instructors.  You  know  their  worth.  Well 
might  they  be  compared  with  those  of  any  institution  of  our 
land,  were  not  such  comparisons  invidious,  and  on  this  occa- 
sion out  of  taste.     They  need  no  encomium,  and  I  believe  that 


144  ORATION. 

you  will  long  regard  them  with  affectionate  gratitude.  That, 
of  which  I  would  now  speak,  is  the  privilege  you  have  of  re- 
siding within  the  bosom  of  your  families,  while  you  prosecute 
your  academic  studies. 

Most  of  our  colleges  are  situate  out  of  towns,  where,  conse- 
quently, the  youth,  who  enter  them,  are  compelled  to  live  in 
cloisters  and  commons ;  a  pernicious  and  unnatural  custom, 
which  has  come  down  to  us  from  the  dark  ages.  It  would 
certainly  be  accounted  an  absurd  proposition,  of  a  hundred  or 
more  lads,  from  fifteen  to  twenty  years  of  age,  to  leave  the 
parental  roof,  and  combine  to  keep,  what  is  termed  Bachelors' 
Hall,  away  from  a  father's  eye,  a  mother's  care,  and  a  sister's 
love.  Yet  what  better  is  the  arrangement  to  which  I  allude, 
and  to  the  effects  of  which  so  many  persons  consign  their  off- 
spring? It  may  be  said,  that  they  are  placed  under  the 
guardianship  of  wise  and  good  men,  and  secluded  also  from 
the  temptations  to  vice  which  abound  in  cities.  But  are  the 
occasional  meetings,  and  periodical  visits  to  their  dormitories, 
of  a  studious  man,  however  faithfully  disposed,  and  sleeping 
withal  in  the  same  building,  a  compensation  for  the  moral  re- 
straints of  home,  its  sacred  threshold  and  guarded  repose  ?  Is 
vice  confined  to  our  larger  towns  ?  or  is  it  not  true,  that  where 
vicious  appetite  craves  indulgence  there  will  be  venal  profli- 
gacy to  grant  it  ?  Is  there  not  danger  of  contamination  when 
a  youth,  at  the  age  Avhen  he  feels  the  strength  of  recent  pas- 
sions most,  and  is  the  least  prepared  to  resist  them,  has  been 
thrown  into  immediate  contact  and  unrestrained  communica- 
tion with  ill-taught  or  ill-disposed  companions,  already  famil- 
iar with  vice  ? 


ORATION.  145 

Dedit  banc  contagio  labem, 
Et  dabit  in  plures  ;  sicut  grex  totus  in  agris, 
Unius  scabie  cadit,  et  porrigine  porci ; 
Uvaqne  conspecta  livorem  dueit  ab  uva.* 

Nay,  will  not  a  natural  impatience  of  espionage,  however  ten- 
derly exercised,  prompt  a  wish  to  elude  it  ?  Not  one  of  us^ 
who  have  had  experience  of  such  college  life,  but  could  tell 
sad  stories  of  ready  means  to  cheat  tutors,  and  turn  the  war 
adroitly  upon  them ;  of  festive  meetings,  if  not  worse  prac- 
tices, within  a  few  yards  of  the  honest  men's  beds,  and  mid- 
night excursions  through  the  unwatched  door  to  haunts  of  sin 
without.  Not  one  of  us,  but  has  seen  companions,  who  came 
ingenuous  and  blushing  from  their  pure  homes,  turned  by  the 
influence  of  evil  example  into  brazen  profligates^  and  lost  to 
virtue  forever.  There  have  been,  it  is  true,  many  instances 
of  general  religious  good  among  students  in  colleges,  for  which 
we  should  give  God  thanks ;  but  an  argument  from  this  in 
their  favor  is,  at  the  least,  of  doubtful  propriety.  It  was  the 
conservative  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  overruling  error  for 
good,  and  affords  no  sufficient  warrant  for  encountering  an  ob- 
vious danger. 

Parents,  who  become  impatient  of  the  anxious  care  their 
sons  require,  and  are  aware  of  their  own  deficiencies,  though 
they  take  no  pains  to  do  better,  are  readily  brought  to  think 
that  they  can  obtain  for  them  a  better  guardianship  from  such 
institutions.  In  this  some  are  right ;  I  mean  those  who  can- 
not deny  themselves  selfish  pleasures  for  their  children's  good, 
and  who  cannot  refrain  from  luxurious  excess  in  their  very 

*Juv.  Sat.  II.  78—81. 
13 


146  OKATION. 

homes,  so  that  by  their  own  families,  ^^ pudenda  dictu  spectan- 
tur."  "Well  might  Quintilian  say,  for  such  people,  who  were 
common  in  his  day,  and  not  altogether  unknown  in  ours: 
"  Utinarn  liherorum  nostrorum  mores  non  ipsi  perderemus"* 
But  where  parental  responsibility  is  felt,  and  a  pious  anxiety 
to  train  up  souls  born  unto  them,  by  precept,  government  and 
example,  for  usefulness  here  and  heaven  hereafter,  it  is  a  most 
grave  error  to  suppose  that  any  asylum  is  so  safe  for  youth  as 
home,  or  any  guardianship  so  effectual  as  that  which  God  in 
nature  and  his  word  has  ordained.  A  young  lad,  who  can 
steal  out  from  his  father's  dwelling  at  night  to  practise  his  vice, 
and  afterward  meet  his  motber's  loving  eye  and  his  sister's 
pure  embrace  without  compunction,  is  already  lost  beyond  any 
power,  short  of"  Almighty  grace,  to  reform.  Any  change  of 
circumstances  must  be  for  the  worse. 

Besides,  I  ask  of  parents  who  thus  (except  where  necessity 
compels,)  send  their  children  to  boarding  schools  and  colleges 
where  the  cloister  system  prevails,  what  right  they  have,  from 
indolence  or  any  other  motive,  to  alter,  by  any  contrivances, 
the  order  of  nature  and  providence  ?  How  dare  they  dele- 
gate to  others  that  sacred  office,  most  resembling  His  own, 
which  God  by  giving  them  offspring  has  made  theirs  ?  When 
Grod  places  a  babe  in  a  mother's  arms,  he  says,  more  plainly 
than  by  words  :  "  Take  this  child  and  nurse  it  for  me,  and  I 
will  pay  thee  thy  wages ;"  and  to  every  father,  who  sees  the 
first  gleaming  of  immortal  intelligence  on  the  face  of  his  babe, 
he  sends  as  emphatic  command  to  walk  before  that  soul  as  its 
guide  and  guard.      How  can  they,  without  treason  against 

Qain.  Ins.  Orat.  I.  2. 


ORATION.  147 

Heaven,  send  them  beyond  their  sight  and  reach  at  the  most 
critical  period  of  life  ?  Where  in  the  Book  of  God  can  they 
find  permission  so  to  do  ?  "Where  can  they  read  any  excep- 
tions allowed  to  the  duty  of  a  personal  superintendence  and 
exertion  ?  How  shall  they  acquit  themselves  in  the  judgment 
of  having  caused  the  evils  that  may  result  from  such  an  aban- 
donment of  their  charge  ? 

A  pious  and  eloquent  prelate  (Jeremy  Taylor),  in  his  Con- 
siderations upon  the  Infancy  of  Jesus,  has  earnestly  exhorted 
Christian  mothers  to  follow  the  example  of  the  Virgin  Mary 
in  nursing  their  children ;  and  even  his  enlightened  mind  ac- 
quired some  arguments  for  that  duty,  from  a  discourse  of  a 
heathen  philosopher  (Favorinus)  with  his  friend,  which  has 
been  preserved  by  Aulus  Gellius.*  Both  insist  that  she, 
from  whom  the  child  derives  its  natural  nourishment,  is  the 
mother  both  in  character  and  affection,  rather  than  the  one 
who  brought  it  forth,  ^sop,  in  Phsedrus,  illustrates  the 
same  truth  by  his  fable  of  the  lamb  seeking  its  foster  dam 
among  the  goats.  {Facit  parentes  honitas,  non  necessitas.'f) 
But  may  not  the  argument  be  carried  further  with  even 
greater  force  ?  Do  not  parents  lose  their  claim  to  fiUal  duty 
and  affection,  by  giving  over  their  children's  growing  years 
and  expanding  character  to  the  disposition  of  others  ?  Need 
they  wonder  if  those  children  should  grow  up  unUke  them  as 
to  everything  but  name,  feature,  and  the  unloving  indifference 
with  which  they  repay  early  neglect  ? 

Some  writers  on  education  have  thought,  that  the  sending 
of  a  young  lad  to  a  distant  school  or  college,  is  of  use  to  give 

*  Noctes  Attica.  XU.  1.  t  Fab.  III.  15. 


148  ORATION. 

him  a  more  manly  temper,  and  an  early  habit  of  relying  upon 
himself,  from  the  necessity  of  maintaining  his  own  in  such  a 
miniature  world ;  while  on  the  other  hand  he  is  likely  to  grow 
»p  soft,  easy,  and  timid,  amidst  the  indulgences  and  retire- 
ment of  home.  Mr.  Locke  (if  I  remember  rightly)  thinks 
that  the  influence  of  sisters  and  brothers  upon  each  other  is 
particularly  hurtful,  and  urges  their  separation,  lest  the  girls 
should  become  hoidenish,  and  the  boys  effeminate.  Their 
theory,  both  as  to  its  ends  and  means,  is  directly  in  the  face 
of  the  social  constitution  God  has  ordained  for  us.  It  might 
do,  if  our  youth  were  to  be  trained  up  like  those  of  Sparta, 
mere  brutish  machines,  insensible  to  any  gentler  emotions 
than  pride  of  warlike  strength  and  a  false  love  of  country. 
But  the  cultivation  of  moral  affections  is,  above  all,  important 
to  form  the  character  of  a  Christian  gentleman,  the  friend  of 
man,  and  the  servant  of  God.  Love  should  ever  be,  as  it 
was  in  Eden,  as  it  shall  be  in  heaven,  the  ruling  principle  of 
our  nature,  and.  therefore,  should  be  engaged  on  behalf  of 
education.  The  softer  and  the  stronger  qualities  should  be 
developed  together.  It  might  be  injurious  to  his  character  if 
the  youth  were  shut  up  entirely  with  women.  He  needs  a 
man's  example  and  a  man's  control.  But  we  have  the  au- 
thority of  God  for  asserting,  that  "  it  is  not  good  for  man  to 
be  alone."  It  is  as  true  of  his  younger  life,  as  of  his  maturity. 
The  same  female  influence,  which  is  the  conservative  charm 
of  manhood,  softening  our  manners,  nor  suffering  us  to  be 
savage  and  selfish,  must  be  impressed  upon  the  growing  soul, 
if  we  would  have  its  human  beauty  complete  beauty.  Man  was 
not  complete  until  feminine  graces  were  added  to  masculine 


ORATION.  149 

strength.  He  was  as  the  rock  without  verdure,  the  oak  with- 
out its  foliage,  and  the  lyre  before  it  is  tuned.  How  beauti- 
fully does  this  appear  in  a  well-regulated  home  ?  When  the 
gentleness  of  a  mother's  counsel  prevail  not,  the  father's  deep- 
er voice  may  enforce ;  when  the  father's  rougher  hand  has 
fretted  the  sensitiveness  of  the  young  heart,  the  mother's  nicer 
instincts  apply  the  balm  to  the  healthful  irritation.  In  either 
case,  parental  authority  founds  its  right  on  gratitude,  and  asks 
obedience  as  the  proof  of  love.  But  the  duty  of  the  mother 
is  the  earlier  and  stronger.  The  child  grew  nearer  to  her 
heart,  and  the  youth  is  more  under  her  eye.  He  receives 
more  from  her  than  from  his  father.  (^Ex  mairis  etiam  cor- 
pore  et  animo  recens  indoles  configuratur.*)  From  whom  did 
the  Gracchi  derive  their  eloquence  ?t  From  whom  the  young 
Timothy  his  knowledge  of  the  truth  ?  Nay,  I  need  not  quote 
examples,  for  they  are  too  many  not  to  be  obvious. 

Happy  too  is  that  young  man  who  has  grown  up  in  the  so- 
ciety of  sisters  emulous  of  a  mother's  purity  and  grace ! 
They  refine  his  heart,  his  thought,  and  his  manners.  Gross- 
ness  of  imagination  recoils  upon  him  as  an  insult  to  them. 
Female  character  is  to  him,  for  their  sakes,  almost  a  holy 
thing.  The  flowers  which  they  nurture,  or  arrange  in  har- 
monious groups,  shed  perfume  around  his  home,  and  the  me- 
lodies of  their  young  joy,  breathed  from  the  sweetest  instru- 
ment human  ear  has  ever  heard,  a  female  voice,  fill  its  atmos- 
phere with  music,  winning  him  from  external  temptation ;  or, 

*  Favor,  ap.  Aul.  Gell. 

t  Legimus  cpistolas  Coinelise,  matris  Gracchonim ;   apparet,  filios 
non  tam  in  gremio  educates,  quam  in  sermone  matris. — Cic.  Brut.  58. 
13* 


150  ORATION. 

as  they  lean  upon  his  arm  and  fondly  look  up  to  him  for  pro- 
tection, he  learns  the  blessedness  of  man's  strength  in  sup- 
porting the  weak  and  guarding  the  precious. 

Sadly  diflferent  is  the  ordinary  experience  of  a  youth  board- 
ing in  a  distant  college.  Some  natural  tears  he  may  shed  on 
leaving  the  loved  familiar  group,  but  he  is  not  without  some- 
thing of  the  prodigal's  satisfaction,  at  venturing  forth  from  the 
restraints  of  the  parental  roof.  He  finds  himself  among  new 
companions,  and  under  a  new  discipline.  The  lesson,  the 
precept,  the  warning  come  from  the  lips  and  authority  of 
strangers,  backed  by  stern  laws  and  severe  penalties.  Vene- 
rable his  teachers  may  be,  and  kindly  faithful  in  disposition 
and  deportment,  yet  do  they  rarely  succeed  in  making  him  re- 
gard them  other  than  as  masters  whom  he  has  not  learned  to 
love,  and  obeys  chiefly  because  he  fears  him.  They  watch 
him,  or  profess  to  watch  him,  by  night  and  by  day,  and  pub- 
lic opinion  among  his  fellows  pronounces  them  natural  ene- 
mies, whom  it  is  clever  to  deceive,  while  conscience  accuses 
him  of  no  ingratitude.  All  the  week  he  is  urged  by  them 
through  difficult  studies,  and  religion  is  associated  in  his  mind 
with  prayer  at  morning  twilight  in  a  cold  chapel,  black  marks 
for  absences,  and  Sunday  sermons  pronounced  by  the  same 
voice,  which  the  day  before  had  cross-examined  him  on  Flux- 
ions, or  rated  him  for  errors  of  Prosody.  No  chastened  plea- 
sures await  his  leisure  hours.  They  are  spent  in  rough 
horse-play,  in  prurient  conversation,  in  concealed  dissipation, 
or  idle  lounging,  —  in  just  such  a  manner  as  youth,  who  think 
themselves  men  while  yet  they  are  boys,  might  be  expected 
to  spend  them.     How  different  is  the  commons-table,  often 


ORATION.  151 

ill  served,  except  immediately  before  the  presiding  officer, 
from  the  pleasing  family  board  with  its  natural  courtesies  and 
confiding  interchange  of  thought !     No  lady's  eye  overlooks 
them  as  they  scramble  like  boors  for  the  hasty  meal.     No 
woman's  tidy  hand  has  arranged  their  wardrobes,  and  no  ap- 
proving smile  rewards  and  encourages  decency  of  dress  and 
carriage.     A  college  student's  wardrobe !     What  a  collection 
it  is  of  toeless  stockings,  buttonless  wristbands,  and  uncared-for 
rents,  some  mothers  can  tell  who  have  examined  the  trunk 
they  saw  packed  so  neatly  a  few  months  before.     A  college 
student's  room  —  shared  perchance  with  one  to  whom  neat- 
ness is  an  unknown  quality ;  its  httered,  unscrubbed,  uncar- 
peted  floor ;  its  confused  and  broken  furniture ;  its  close  at- 
mosphere heated  by  a  greasy  stove  and  redolent  of  tobacco ; 
its  bed  a  lounging-place  by  day,  whose  pillows  have  never 
been  shaken  or  sheets  smoothed  by  other  than  the  college  por- 
ter, who  intermitted  for  such  ministry  the  carrying  of  wood 
or  the  blacking  of  boots  ;  its  dim  panes  festooned  with  ancient 
cobwebs,  through  which  the  noonday  sun  looks  yellow  as 
through  a  London  fog,  —  it  is  indescribable  as  chaos.     "Wo  to 
him  whom  sickness  seizes  in  such  an  abode !     Kind  nurses 
he  may  have ;  but  how  I'ough  I     With  what  heavy  tread,  and 
strange  notions  of  the  materia  medica  !     Vainly  does  the  fe- 
vered eye  look  around  for  mother,  or  sister,  or  time-honored 
servant !     Vainly  does  the  fevered  thirst  crave  the  grateful 
drink  their  hands  once  pressed  to  his  lips,  when  he  was  sick 
at  home !     There  is  none  to  sprinkle  the  fragrant  spirit  on 
his  brow,  or,  after  bathing  his  feet  in  the  attempered  water, 
to  wipe  them  dry  and  wrap  them  warm.    Alas  !  poor  youth ; 


152  ORATION. 

he  has  a  mother,  he  has  sisters,  he  has  a  home,  where  kuid- 
ness  might  have  made  sickness  a  luxury  —  but  they  have  sent 
him  away  to  suffer  among  strangers. 

Can  it  be,  my  friends,  that  such  slipshod,  unkempt,  out-of- 
elbowed,  bearish  young  men  are  the  sons  of  our  respectable 
families  in  a  course  of  education  to  be  gentlemen,  and  to  take 
their  place  in  polite  society  ?  Can  it  be  that  well-bred  Chris- 
tian parents  have  wilfully  thrust  them  forth  into  such  asso- 
ciations and  dangers  ?  Yes,  some  of  them  have  gone  from 
our  own  city,  where  one  of  the  best  colleges  in  the  land  is  at 
their  fathers'  door.  Shame  upon  the  Philadelphians  who 
thus  dishonor  what  they  should  foster  with  a  jealous  care ! 
Congratulate  yourselves,  young  gentlemen,  that  you  are  not 
among  them,  and  that  God  has  given  you  fathers  and  mothers 
who  need  not  and  will  not  deny  you  the  sacred  comforts  of 
home ;  while  you  enjoy  all  the  advantages  of  thorough  in- 
struction from  those  who  may  consult  the  parental  heart  when 
the  exercise  of  disciphne  is  necessary,  and  call  parental  anx- 
iety to  assist  them  in  their  watch  over  your  moral  and  intel- 
lectual welfare. 

For  my  part,  I  look  upon  boarding  schools,  whether  for 
girls  or  boys,  and  boarding  colleges,  with  the  same  feelings 
with  which  I  look  upon  a  foundling  hospital.  The  inmates 
may  be  of  a  larger  growth,  but  almost  as  unnaturally  aban- 
doned. There  may  be  those  among  them,  who  are  better 
guarded  than  they  would  have  been  under  their  parents' 
watch ;  but  they  are  to  be  pitied  for  their  perilous  and  un- 
comfortable lot.  Circumstances  may  compel  parents  to  send 
their  offspring  from  home,  and  in  such  cases  we  must  allow 


ORATION.  153 

the  force  of  the  classic  maxim :  "  Nhcessitas  ....  quicquid 
cogit,  excusat."  But  I  would  entreat  them,  whenever  it  is 
possible,  to  place  their  sons  with  worthy  families,  where  a  lady 
sits  at  the  head  of  the  table,  and  her  power  is  felt  in  the  sa- 
credness  of  a  household. 


My  young  friends,  one  parting  counsel  more  and  I  have 
done.  Life  to  you  is  full  of  promise,  and  may  its  best  bless- 
ings be  yours !  The  esteem  of  the  good,  deserved  by  a  wise 
and  generous  devotion  to  the  interests  of  society,  and  the  ap- 
proving consciousness  of  well-spent  time,  are  truly  rich  re- 
wards, that  may  well  excite  your  determined  zeal.  But  life 
is  short.  Our  duties  and  our  pleasures  here  shall  soon  (who 
can  tell  how  soon  ?)  terminate  in  the  grave.  This  autumnal 
season  has  a  parable  for  us,  and  the  voice  of  the  dying  year, 
as  it  moans  through  the  leafless  trees,  speaks  to  the  medita- 
tive mind  in  the  mournful  cadence  of  that  eloquent  participle 
we  have  no  word  to  translate :  "  Tu  quoque  moriture  !"  Yet 
we  shall  not  altogether  die.  We  are  children  of  immortality. 
There  is  another  life  than  this,  another  Judge  than  man,  an- 
other ordeal  than  human  opinion.  "We  shall  be  profited  noth- 
ing if  we  gain  the  whole  world  and  lose  our  souls.  Blessed 
be  God  !  He  has  had  compassion  upon  our  need  and  danger. 
Jesus  Christ  his  only  begotten  Son,  our  Lord,  is  the  Friend, 
the  Advocate  and  Brother  of  all  who  trust  in  his  love.  He 
himself  walked  the  sands  of  life's  desert,  that,  guided  by  his 
holy  footsteps,  we  find  the  way  to  that  better  land  whither  he 


154  ORATION. 

has  gone  before  us.  He  himself  has  fought  the  battles  of  life's 
temptations,  that  we  might  know  Him  to  be  ready  to  succor 
us  when  we  are  tempted.  He,  the  babe  of  Bethlehem,  the 
youth  before  whom  in  the  Temple  "  the  boast  of  hoary  wis- 
dom was  dumb,"  loves  the  grateful  confidence  of  a  young 
heart.  Seek  Him  earnestly.  Look  to  Him  always ;  and 
whatever  be  your  lot  in  this  passing  scene,  glory,  honor  and 
immortality  shall  be  yours,  when  the  waters  of  an  eternal 
deep  shall  have  rolled  its  engulphing  waves  over  earth  and 
the  years  that  revolve  around  it. 

Remember,  also,  that  with  all  the  advantages  by  which 
your  fortunate  youth  is  surrounded,  you  are,  under  God,  the 
disposers  of  your  own  future  interest.  Your  success  for  time 
and  eternity  depends  upon  your  faithfulness  to  yourselves. 
Difficulties  must  be  yours ;  but  they  are  ever  occasions  of 
greater  glory  or  of  greater  shame.  I  take,  then,  my  leave  of 
you  with  the  words  of  the  gods'  fabled  messenger  : 

Be  mindful,  now  you  cannot  err  unwarned ; 
Nor  lay  the  blame  on  Fate,  nor  think  that  God 
Afflicts  his  creatures  from  a  blind  caprice  : 
The  fault  is  yours  alone ;  if,  by  neglect 
Infatuate,  you  have  wrapt  the  fatal  net 
Of  sin  inextricable  'round  your  feet.* 

*  The  translation  I  give  is  free,  but  the  attentive  reader  of  the  origi- 
nal can  hardly  fail  to  trace  a  strong  parallel  between  the  idea  of  the 
Greek  poet  and  that  of  the  Christian  apostle  James,  I.  13,  14,  15. 

'A/IA'  ovv  fiE[ivr]a-&'  uytj  Trpolsyu  • 
M.rj6e  Trpbg  aT7]c  d-ijpa-&eicrai 


ORATION.  155 

Or,  in  the  better  language  of  Christ's  apostle : 
"  Blessed  is  the  man  that  endureth  temptation ;  for  when 
he  is  tried,  he  shall  receive  the  crown  of  life,  which  the  Lord 
has  promised  to  them  that  love  him.  Let  no  man  say  when 
he  is  tempted.  I  am  tempted  of  God.  For  God  cannot  be 
tempted  of  evil.  Neither  tempteth  he  any  man." 
May  that  victory  and  that  crown  be  given  to  you  all. 

'Of  Zsic  vfiug  elg  UTvpoowTov 

Jly/J,'  elaefiakev  • 

M^  6fiT\  avral  d'  vfxdg  avrdg. 

Eldvlai,  yap  kovk  E^ai(j>v7]Q 

OvSe  "ka&paiijc 

Etf  UTTepavTov  Siktvov  drijg 

'E^7r^e;i;i?7(7£(Ti9^'  vtc'  uvoiag. 

^schylus,  Prom.  Vine.  1071-9. 


THE  PROSPECTS  OF  ART  IN"  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


AN    ADDRESS 


BEFOBE    THE 


ARTISTS'  FUND  SOCIETY  OE  PHILADELPHIA, 


OPENING  OF  THEIE  EXHIBITION, 
MAT,  1840. 

(bt  request.) 
14 


ADDRESS. 


Mr.  President, 

and  Gentlemen,  Members  of  the  Artists'  Fund  Society. 
I  know  that  I  express  the  feelings  of  many  others,  in  con- 
gratulating you  warmly  on  the  prosperity  of  your  Association. 
The  opening  of  your  new  and  commodious  Hall  of  Exhibi- 
tion, on  a  site  very  generously  secured  to  you  by  the  Acade- 
my of  Fine  Arts,  with  the  rich  collection  of  your  own  more 
recent  and  beautiful  works  now  arranged  within  it,  gives  as- 
surance of  your  successful  zeal  in  the  past,  and  warrants  the 
best  hopes  for  the  future.  You  need  no  longer  complain  that 
you  are  without  a  resting  place  and  home,  and  the  scandal  of 
seeming  alienation  between  a  Society  of  Artists  and  a  So- 
ciety of  the  friends  of  Art,  has  ceased.  We  now  see  that, 
though  there  may  be  different  views  of  policy,  a  sincere  de- 
sire to  promote  the  healthful  growth  of  Art,  binds  you  to- 
gether in  a  union,  perhaps  the  stronger,  because  without  a  lite- 
ral covenant.  Kindness  has  been  proflFered,  and  kindness  has 
been  accepted.  You  have  shown  yourselves  above  that  petty 
pride  which  refuses  honorable  aid  in  a  good  cause ;  and  the 
Academy  have  shown  their  willingness  that  you  should  be  set 
before  the  public  in  a  good  light,  even  at  the  expense  of  being 


160  THE   PROSPECTS    OF  ART 

thrown  themselves  into  the  back  ground.  So  close  a  neigh- 
borhood, formed  in  such  circumstances,  cannot  fail  to  be  fruit- 
ful of  good  offices. 

The  fact,  that,  as  associated  Artists,  you  are  conscious  of 
sufficient  strength  to  assume  the  entire  management  of  your 
own  interests,  is,  in  itself,  cheering.  For  if  it  be  true,  that 
since  The  Painters  of  Siena  were  chartered  in  1355,  under 
those  admirable  statutes  for  the  government  of  the  profession 
which,  for  truth  and  clearness,  have  never  been  surpassed, 
Artists  have  proved  themselves  to  be  the  best  judges  of  what 
the  honor  of  the  Arts  may  demand,  it  should  also  be  remem- 
bered, that  during  their  earlier  infancy,  they  have  always 
needed  and  sought  kindly  nurture  from  those  who  have  the 
taste  to  admire,  and  the  means  to  reward,  what  they  have  not 
the  happy  genius  to  execute. 

It  is  not  until  the  friends  of  Art  have  become  numerous 
through  the  influence  of  Art,  that  Artists  can  cease  to  be  de- 
pendent on  the  few.  They  must  themselves  form  the  gene- 
ral taste  upon  which  they  are  to  live,  and  that  can  be  done 
only  by  constant  and  patient  addresses  to  the  public  eye,  in 
works  of  genuine  merit.  Taste  is  governed  by  sentiment, 
rather  than  professional  dictation.  You  can  neither  write 
nor  lecture  us  into  a  sense  of  Art ;  but  your  brush  or  chisel 
may  win,  when  the  best  pen  and  most  eloquent  tongue  can 
avail  nothing.  In  illustration  of  this,  how  many  a  traveller 
from  this  western  world,  who,  at  home,  listened  incredulously 
to  high- wrought  descriptions  of  the  great  masters,  has,  in  one 
hour  spent  between  the  Transfiguration  and  the  Communion 
of  St.  Jerome,  felt  within  him  the  birth  of  a  passion  for  Art, 


IN   THE   UNITED    STATES.  161 

lasting  as  life  ?  But  then  again  how  very  few,  except  the 
learned  artist,  practised  critic,  or  observant  anatomist,  can  en- 
ter at  once  into  the  merits  of  Michael  Angelo  ?  They  may 
have  studied  the  hundred  volumes  which  have  been  written 
upon  his  works  and  genius  ;  they  may  have  conned  by  heart 
Sir  Joshua  Reynolds'  lectures,  and  prepared  themselves  to 
exclaim,  as  the  doors  of  the  Sistine  opened  before  them, 

"  Michel  piu  che  mortel ! 
Angel  divino ! " 

but  if  any  home-returned  tourists,  garrulous  of  foreign  won- 
ders and  themselves,  pretend  that  they  fell  into  ecstasies  on 
their  first  visit  to  the  chapel,  we  need  scarcely  doubt  that 

"  They  talk  of  beauties  which  they  never  saw, 
And  fancy  raptures  which  they  never  knew." 

We  are  willing  to  believe  Michael  Angelo  the  first  of  Ar- 
tists, because  that  rank  is  given  him  by  those  who  are  the 
best  judges,  and  perhaps,  in  time,  we  might  acquire  an  ap- 
preciation of  his  greatness  ;  yet,  until  then,  it  is  a  matter  of 
faith.  But  when  critics  tell  us  of  the  mild  glories  of  Haf- 
faelle,  sublime  in  his  serenity,  or  of  Domenichino's  touching 
truth,  making  the  beholder  tremulous  with  sympathy,  we 
yield  a  ready  assent,  because  we  can  feel  them.  Gentlemen, 
you  must  make  us  feel  Art,  and  afterwards  we  shall  be  glad 
to  hear  from  you  homilies  upon  taste. 

One  good  Artist  sows  the  seed  of  a  liberal  harvest  for 
many  successors,  not  only  by  the  encouragement  of  his  ex- 
ample, but  by  the  excitement  which  his  works  give  to  the 
14* 


it»Z  THE  PROSPECTS    OP  ART 

public  appetite  for  the  pleasures  of  Art.     Collections,  such  as 
you  exhibit  each  season,  made  up  from  your  various  depart- 
ments and  styles,  and  thus  addressed  to  our  various  taste  and 
capacity  to  enjoy,  must,  as  indeed  experience  has  shown,  call 
forth  the  latent  love  of  many  an  eye  and  mind  for  beauty  of 
form,  color,  and  composition.     Some  scene  of  quiet  nature, 
with  its  bending  trees  mingling  their  shadows  in  the  placid 
waters ;  or  gorgeous  landscape  of  rich  autumnal  hues,  such 
as  visit  no  land  but  ours  ;  or  sea  piece,  where  the  struggling 
vessel  heaves  and  tosses  on  waves  which  foam  around  her, 
as  the  brush  of  Birch  can  give  them  action,  will  excite  a  de- 
sire that  other  spots,  endeared  by  tender  associations  ;  or  re- 
membered view,  which  we  lingered  long  to  gaze  upon  and 
sighed  to   leave ;  or  thrilling  incident  of  former  adventure 
might  be  present,  by  the  magic  of  your  art,  when  the  reahty 
is  far  distant,  or  long  since  past.     The  marble,  which,  to  an 
unpractised  eye  seems  cold  and  unexpressive,  from  its  pol- 
ished pureness  and  classic  severity,  when  wrought  into  the 
form  and  features  of  the  great  we  revere,  or  the  faithful  we 
have  cherished,  will  soon  assert  its  power  to  give  superior 
dignity,  or  spiritual  tenderness,  to  memorials  of  virtue,  love- 
liness, and  truth.     If  the  portrait  of  one  dear  friend  speak  to 
us  from  the  canvas,  how  natural  is  the  wish  that  graphic 
images  of  aU  who  form  the  circle  of  affection  should  remain, 
when  the  grave  shall  have  hidden  their  decaying  dust  ?     Fil- 
ial piety  will  entreat  you  to  trace  the  venerable  countenance 
of  the  parent  whose  race  is  nearly  run ;  the  mother,  to  secure 
her  a  longer  enjoyment  of  her  child's  infantile  graces ;  and 
the  husband  and  father,  to  combine  for  him  a  loving  group  of 
his  pleasing  wife  and  circUng  offspring. 


IN   THE   UNITED    STATES.  163 

Fed  by  such  grateful  indulgence,  may  we  not  hope  that  a 
growing  taste  and  liberality  will  learn  to  appreciate  the  noble 
talent  of  Epic  composition  ?  Then,  instead  of  being  content 
with  hanging  upon  his  walls  mere  family  likenesses,  which, 
however  gratifying  they  may  be  to  affection,  the  painter's 
skill  can  rarely  clothe  with  grace  or  dignity,  the  lover  of  his 
country  and  of  virtue  will  seek  to  impress  his  own,  and  the 
young  minds  of  his  household,  with  scenes  of  American  glory, 
and  the  attractive  teachings  of  pictured  morals;  admiring 
citizens  will  combine  their  gratitude,  and  place  high  upon  pe- 
destals of  honor  statues  of  our  heroes  and  sages,  persuading 
posterity  to  unite  with  them  in  honoring  public  worth  and  in 
learning  lessons  of  patriotic  devotion ;  and  legislatures,  rep- 
resenting a  generous  public  spirit,  warrant  the  employment  of 
genius  in  giving  majesty  to  halls  of  office,  and  elegance  to 
resorts  of  the  people. 

It  is  melancholy  to  think  of  the  talent  which  now  lies  dor- 
mant among  yourselves,  gentlemen,  for  want  of  encourage- 
ment ;  and  to  see  in  your  annual  catalogues  such  a  repetition 
of  "Portrait  of  a  Lady ;"  "  Portrait  of  a  Gentleman  ;"  when 
we  know  that  some,  at  least,  of  the  pencils  which  produced 
them  are  capable  of  far  higher  achievement.  But  in  a  coun- 
try like  ours,  where  there  are  no  princely  houses  and  few 
large  fortunes,  you  cannot  hope  for  great  advances  of  the 
public  feeling  for  Art,  but  by  reaching  the  people  generally. 
In  the  present  state  of  political  controversy  (and  there  is 
little  prospect  of  a  speedy  amendment)  the  expenditure  of 
public  money  upon  works  of  Art  would  expose  the  best  ad- 
ministration to  defeat  from  the  virulent  assaults  and  impeach- 


164  THE  PROSPECTS    OP  ART 

ments  of  opposing  partisans,  many  of  whom  know  better, 
but  eagerly  use  any  methods,  however  mean,  of  political  ad- 
vancement The  people  would  be  persuaded  by  their  soph- 
istries, that  nothing  should  receive  the  public  patronage,  but 
that  which  is  immediately  and  palpably  useful ;  and  that,  con- 
trary to  the  suffrage  of  all  history,  the  Arts,  which  refine  and 
beautify,  are  unworthy  the  regard  of  simple  republicans. 
This  prejudice,  so  fostered,  can  only  be  met  among  the  people 
themselves,  by  a  wide  diffusion  of  Art  in  its  cheaper  forms. 
It  might,  with  truth,  be  affirmed  that  the  same  statues  which 
were  the  admiration  of  Athenian  democrats,  or  now  delight 
the  houseless  lazaroni  of  Naples,  could  not  stand  in  our  public 
squares  without  mutilation  until  to-morrow  morning.  There 
is  brutaUty  enough  among  us  to  count  it  a  good  joke  to  knock 
off  the  nose  of  the  Medicean  Venus,  or  decapitate  the  Anti- 
nous.  Yet  the  love  of  Art  is  indigenous  to  no  particular 
soil ;  nor  is  it  inherently  confined  to  any  particular  race.  The 
child's  pleasure  over  his  picture-book,  and  the  crowds  which 
gather  before  the  print-shop  window,  prove  that  there  is  an 
innate  taste,  which  needs  but  to  be  cultivated  to  acquire  force 
anywhere.  It  is  the  habit  of  contemplating  works  of  Art 
which,  in  the  course  of  years,  forms  the  public  taste  for  Art. 
The  decorations  and  symmetry  of  their  public  temples,  and 
their  public  memorials  of  heroic  deeds  and  ancestral  glory, 
taught  the  Greeks  to  identify  encouragement  of  Art  with  re- 
hgion  and  love  of  country.  Italy,  before  Grecian  genius 
shone  upon  Etruria,  was  barbarous  and  blind ;  and  the  Ro- 
man, as  he  first  appeared,  was  only  stern  and  warlike.  Even 
in  the  time  of  Augustus  we  read  of  no  successful  native 


IN   THE   UNITED    STATES.  165 

Artist,  where,  in  more  modern  centuries,  such  glories  of  genius 
have  shone ;  where  now  the  roughest  hthograph  bears  the 
stamp  of  merit,  and  the  poorest  peasant,  crushed  as  he  is  by 
despotic  rule,  swells  with  the  thought  that  the  land  which 
schools  the  world  in  Art  is  his  own.  The  same  change,  des- 
pite of  our  Anglo-Saxon  lineage,  may  pass  over  us,  and  with 
more  than  Grecian  freedom  and  ancient  Roman  valor,  we 
may  acquire  the  taste  to  feel  that  national  character  loses 
nothing  of  its  dignity  by  being  draped  with  grace. 

Yet,  I  repeat,  this  can  be  accomplished  only  by  reaching 
the  ma.ss  of  our  people  who  must  control  the  national  senti- 
ment. Modern  improvements  in  Art  furnish  great  facilities 
for  this  work  of  refinement.*  Those,  whose  means  are  too 
narrow  to  purchase  original  designs,  can  find  a  cheap,  but 
dehghtful  gratification  from  the  engraver's  art,  so  successfully 
cultivated  by  some  of  our  own  countrymen,  among  whom  are 
estimable  associates  of  your  own.  Engraving  is  the  true 
child  of  Painting, 

"  Mater,  pulchra  filia,  pulchrior  j" 

and  with  filial  zeal  does  she  advance  her  mother's  honor. 
Indeed,  the  burin  deserves  far  higher  estimation,  gratitude 
and  encouragement,  than  we  are  wont  to  give  it,  for  bringing 
within  the  reach  of  many,  what  must  otherwise  have  remained 
the  privilege  of  a  few,  and  thus  preparing  the  way  for  a 
wide-spread  influence  of  higher  Art.  A  good  engraving  of 
a  good  picture,  in  its  eiSfect  on  the  mind,  is  incomparably  supe- 

*  Appendix  (A.) 


166  THE  PROSPECTS   OP  ART 

nor  to  a  painting  of  ordinary  merit.  It  gives  us  tiie  drawing, 
the  shadows,  the  composition  and  air  of  the  master,  refining  the 
eye  and  taste,  perhaps  the  more,  because  the  coloring  is  not 
imitated.  If  it  be  true,  as  a  critic  of  the  best  rank  has  asserted, 
that  a  connoisseur  in  prints  is  more  than  half  accomplished 
as  a  judge  of  painting,  it  must  also  be  true  that  a  general 
diffusion  of  good  prints  would  secure  a  general  relish  for 
Art  in  its  more  elevated  and  original  forms.  The  painter, 
therefore,  should  regard  the  engraver  as  his  best  friend,  and 
one  who,  never  aspiring  to  be  a  rival,  is  content  to  serve  un- 
der his  shadow  for  a  humble  portion  of  the  larger  profit  and 
praise  which  he  assists  to  win. 

It  is  certainly  most  pleasing  for  the  generous  admirer  of 
Art,  and  lover  of  human  happiness,  to  think  of  the  vast 
numbers,  whom  the  ingenuity  of  recent  years  has  admitted  to 
a  share  in  his  enjoyments.  The  prolific  family  of  Annuals, 
long  after  their  feeble  literature  has  ceased  to  attract,  amuse 
and  deUght  by  their  elegant  embellishments  the  vacant  hours 
of  those,  who  have  received  those  offerings  of  affection,  and  of 
the  visitor,  who  awaits,  beside  their  centre  tables,  the  anxious 
toilet's  slow  delay.  The  very  bullionist  smoothes  his  brow 
while  contemplating  the  bank  note's  graceful  ornaments,  and, 
though  lamenting  that 

"  So  fair 
A  promise  should  deceive  th'  admirlDg  trust, 
And  be  not  what  it  seems," 

mast  confess  that  the  vignette  is  worth  something,  though  the 
security  be  never  so  doubtful.    The  invention  of  hthography, 


IN   THE   UNITED    STATES.  167 

and  the  great  advance  in  wood-cutting,  besides  the  service 
they  render  to  science,  have  enlivened  with  glimpses  of  Art 
the  walls  of  many  a  humble  dwelling,  once  poor  and  mean ; 
and  allure  the  tasteful  school-boy  through  a  flowery  maze  to 
orthography  and  syntax,  which  it  required  our  utmost  cour- 
age to  approach,  when  the  aditus  to  their  mysteries  was 
guarded  by  a  frowning  "vera  efl&gies"  of  Noah  Webster,  un- 
like any  possible  thing  but  a  nightmare  realization  of  the 
nursery  hobgoblin.  The  Penny  Magazines,  as  they  are  pub- 
lished abroad,  (and  I  hope  soon  to  be  able  to  say  here  also,) 
carry  to  the  poorest  of  the  people,  wood  engravings  of  master 
pieces  in  Art,  and  specimens  of  natural  history,  which  the 
most  finished  critic  would  not  disdain  to  admire ;  and  there 
may  be  as  much  heartfelt  enjoyment  in  the  evening  circle 
of  the  poor  man's  home,  around  a  fresh-cut  number  of  the 
weekly  visitor,  as  an  amateur  can  feel  before  a  Correggio  or  a 
Claude.  I  have  often  thought  that  I  could  forego  the  pleasure 
of  listening  to  Mozart's  best  overture,  for  the  sake  of  wit- 
nessing the  delight  dancing  in  the  eyes,  and  dimpling  the 
cheeks  of  a  group  of  country  children  around  a  Savoyard's 
hand-organ,  or  some  unwashed  minstrels  singing  the  songs  of 
their  far-off  Rhine ;  but,  I  am  sure  that  I  never  see  an 
Italian  cast-monger  staggering  beneath  his  load  of  Graces 
and  Napoleons,  Tuscan  vases,  Walter  Scotts  and  Dianas, 
without  wishing  him  well  as  an  unconscious  missionary  of 
Art,  come  from  his  sunny  land  to  minister  pleasure  to  the 
lowly,  and  refinement  to  the  rude ;  for  though  the  moulds,  from 
which  they  are  taken,  be  worn  and  old,  his  casts  yet  retain 
something  of  the  stamp  of  genius,  and  give  sufficient  gratifi- 


168  THE   PROSPECTS    OF   ART 

cation  to  excite  a  wish  for  more.  The  lithographs  may  be 
rude  and  gaudy,  cinerary  urns  be  turned  into  flower  vases, 
goddesses  made  to  hold  candles,  and  cross-legged  Cupids  to 
read  little  books ;  but  you  will  rarely  find,  in  a  humble  fami- 
ly, a  taste  for  these  ornaments  unaccompanied  by  neatness, 
temperance,  and  thrift.  They  are  like  the  cherished  plants 
in  the  window,  the  green  creepers  in  the  yard,  or  the  caged 
singing-bird  on  the  wall,  signs  of  a  fondness  for  home,  and  a 
desire  to  cultivate  those  virtues  which  make  home  peaceful 
and  happy. 

But,  gentlemen,  independently  of  benevolent  considerations, 
we  must  not  allow  ourselves  to  despise  such  methods  of  Art,  be- 
cause we  have  been  educated  by  fortunate  circumstances,  or 
inspired,  as  you  are,  by  a  more  fortunate  genius  to  perceive 
its  higher  beauties.  It  is  chiefly  from  them,  that  we  must 
hope  for  the  awakening  of  a  national  taste.  The  ancient 
States  where  Art  most  flourished,  were  small  in  territory. 
Every  citizen  of  Attica  could  look  often  upon  the  glories  of 
the  Parthenon  and  the  Poecile.  The  temples  of  Elis,  of  Del- 
phi, and  the  sacred  Delos,  and  even  the  desert  shrine  of  the 
Lybian  Ammon,  attracted  vast  crowds  of  religious  pilgrims. 
The  various  public  games  brought  together  the  most  generous 
youth  and  sage  elders,  not  merely  to  engage  in  exercises 
which  displayed  the  finest  forms  in  the  finest  attitudes,  but 
also  to  enjoy  the  poet's  noblest  lays,  the  painter's  best  pictures, 
and  the  sculptor's  most  finished  works.  The  aristocratic  forms 
of  Europe  call  around  the  sovereign  in  his  capital  those  who 
represent  the  wealth  and  power  of  the  nation,  and  it  is  both 
policy  and  pride  which  employs  Art  to  give  magnificence  to 


IN   THE   UNITED    STATES.  ]  6il 

abodes  of  authority,  and  to  cover  with  grace  the  deformities 
of  oppressive  rule.  Our  people,  on  the  contrary,  are  widely 
scattered.  "We  have,  and  can  have,  but  few  great  cities,  and 
none  of  general  resort.  The  country,  in  national  questions,. 
must  rule  the  town.  Large  wealth  can  rarely  be  acquired^ 
and  yet  more  rarely  transmitted  to  a  third  generation.  Hap- 
pily for  our  liberties,  the  political  power  must  remain  with 
those  who  are  not  beyond  the  necessity  of  personal  toil.  As,. 
therefore,  the  influence  of  the  pencil  and  the  chisel  can  reach 
immediately  but  few,  the  many  are  to  be  sought  out  by  means 
which  admit  of  greater  multiplication  and  wider  extent.  Yet 
we  may  believe,  that  if  our  people  could  have  placed  before 
them  such  cheap  exhibitions  of  Art,  and  were  at  the  same 
time  made  acquainted  with  the  estimation  in  which  Art  was 
held  by  the  ancient  republics,  and  the  best  minds  of  all  ages ; 
the  glory  with  which  it  has  illustrated  nations ;  the  patriotism 
it  has  cultivated,  and  the  lucrative  advantages  it  has  secured  ; 
they  would  become  as  distinguished  for  a  generous  taste,  as 
they  are  for  a  love  of  freedom.  Obscure  genius,  which  might 
otherwise  have  died  unknown  in  some  distant  forest  hamlet, 
may  be  called  forth  and  encouraged  to  successful  vigor,  as  was 
the  talent  of  young  West  by  a  few  engravings  of  Grevling. 
Each  new  aspirant  after  the  distinctions  or  pleasures  of  Art, 
would  be  a  centre  of  new  influence  over  the  minds  of  others. 
We  should  learn  to  have  a  grateful  pride  in  the  praise 
given  to  American  Art  abroad,  and  desire  to  wipe  oflP  the  dis- 
honoring imputation,  that  American  Artists  must  go  abroad 
to  obtain  a  just  appreciation.  Thus,  soon,  the  sentiment 
would  become  so  general  and  so  strong,  that  the  scholar  who 

15 


170  THE   PROSPECTS    OF   AKT 

records  our  country's  story ;  the  painter  who  illustrates  its 
grand  events ;  the  sculptor  who  perpetuates  in  undying  mar- 
ble the  forms  of  our  mighty  dead  ;  the  orator  whose  glowing 
arguments  persuade  us  to  the  pursuit  of  their  examples  ;  the 
poet  whose  bold  minstrelsy  animates  our  patriotic  ardor, 
and  the  architect,  whose  genius  sheds  venerable  grace  over 
our  shrines  of  devotion,  our  seats  of  learning,  and  our  halls  of 
authority,  (showing  us,  as  in  a  constant  parable,  that  stability 
ever  resides  in  strength  combined  with  harmony,)  will  be 
deemed  worthy  to  share  the  high  regard  of  their  fellow  citizens 
with  the  warrior  who  sheds  his  blood,  and  the  statesman  who 
devotes  his  far-sighted  wisdom  for  their  country's  welfare. 
He,  who  preserves  and  blesses  his  country  in  peace,  is  cer- 
tainly equal  to  him  who  fights  for  it  in  war ;  and  he,  who  sug- 
gests or  confirms  a  reverence  for  laws,  to  him  who  writes  and 
prescribes  them. 

There  is  very  great  reason  to  believe  in  the  future  success 
of  Art  among  us.  Our  people,  when  excited  in  any  pursuit, 
allow  no  limits  to  their  enthusiasm,  and  have  shown  them- 
selves beneath  none  in  variety  of  genius  and  courage  of  enter- 
prise. Hitherto  their  attention  has  been  compelled  to  engage- 
ments of  more  immediate  usefulness,  by  the  necessities  of  our 
new  confederacy  and  numerous  State  governments,  the  rush 
of  our  increasing  population,  the  wealth  hidden  beneath  our 
original  forests,  the  facility  afforded  to  manufactures  by  the 
rapid  descent  of  many  a  broad  stream,  the  desire  of  bringing 
distant  points  nearer  together,  and  of  interlacing  our  interests 
by  rail-roads  and  canals,  and  the  agitation  of  many  questions 
in  finance  or  political  morals,  which  have  never  arisen  else- 


IN    THE    UNITED    STATES.  171 

where,  but  must  be  decided  by  us.  Yet  how  great  have  been 
the  honors  already  attained,  I  had  well  nigh  said  compelled, 
from  the  world  ?  The  name  which,  by  the  unanimous  suf- 
frage of  mankind,  stands  highest  on  the  roll  of  uninspired  hu- 
manity, is  that  of  Washington.  He  who,  since  the  day  of 
Newton,  has  given  the  strongest  impulse  to  the  application  of 
physical  science,  made  his  bold  experiments  on  the  lightning 
of  heaven  from  the  plains  near  our  own  city,  and  sleeps  be- 
neath his  modest  tomb  in  a  corner  of  Christ  Church  burial- 
ground  ;  whither  the  stranger  from  every  land,  and  the  native 
of  his  own,  turn  their  pilgrim  feet  to  do  honor  to  the  memory 
of  the  Yankee  adventurer,  the  apprentice  printer,  the  poor 
man's  honest  counsellor,  the  Philadelphia  editor,  the  Ameri- 
can statesman,  the  baffler  of  European  diplomacy,  and  the 
philosopher  who  taught  the  world.  The  authority  of  Marshall 
and  Kent  receives  reverence  from  every  great  and  just  tri- 
bunal. Improvements  in  jurisprudence  made  among  us,  and 
especially  within  our  own  State,  have  been  the  basis  (unac- 
knowledged but  not  the  less  real)  of  extensive  judicial  reforms 
in  that  very  country  which  claims  to  have  taught  us  all  we 
know.*  The  name  of  Irving  is  already  coupled  with  that  of 
Addison  ;  and  in  a  single  day,  as  it  were,  Prescott  has  risen 
to  take  his  place  with  Gibbon  and  Hume,  while,  for  truth  of 
narrative  and  benevolence  of  feeling,  he  is  above  them  both. 
The  genius  of  Bowditch  burns  brightly  near  the  compass  and 
the  quadrant  of  almost  every  bark  that  tempts  the  trackless 
ocean.  The  mighty  energies  of  steam,  first  successfully  ap- 
plied to  navigation  by  our  own  Fulton,  now  speeds  the  flying 

*  Appendix  (B.) 


172  THE   PROSPECTS    OP   ART 

car  over  the  rail-ways  of  Europe,  controlled  and  directed  by 
the  superior  ingenuity  of  American  skill.  The  exquisite  in- 
vention of  Daguerre,  recent  as  it  is,  shall  soon  be  returned  to 
him  from  this  western  world,  stripped  of  half  its  mechanical 
arrangements,  and  capable  of  a  more  ready  and  useful  adap- 
tation. These  instances,  snatched  at  random  from  a  multitude, 
prove  that  there  is  among  our  people  a  boldness  and  original- 
ity, which  cannot  fail  to  secure  great  success  in  the  liberal 
arts,  when  more  favorable  circumstances  demand  their  more 
zealous  cultivation.  Even  now  the  catalogue  of  American 
Artists  must  be  regarded  with  great  respect  when  we  read 
upon  it  such  names  as  those  of  President  West,  Copely,  Stuart, 
Allston,  Newton,  Harding,  Cole,  Greenough,  Inman,  and  oth- 
ers,* of  whose  talents  my  inferior  knowledge  will  not  permit 
me  to  pronounce  an  opinion,  or  whose  modest  worth  I  must 
not  cause  to  blush,  even  by  just  praise,  when  I  see  them  pre- 
sent. 

The  Arts,  indeed,  have  made  surprising  progress  in  the 
United  States,  when  we  consider  the  temptations  which  op- 
portunities of  wealth  and  political  distinction  offer  to  men  of 
genius,  and  the  poverty  of  reward,  whether  of  honor  or  gain, 
which  our  countrymen  have  had  the  leisure  or  means  to  be- 
stow upon  them.  In  none,  perhaps,  is  this  more  apparent, 
than  in  the  noble  and  useful  art  of  architecture.  Mr.  Ver- 
planck,  in  his  admirable  discourse  before  the  New  York  Acad- 
emy, at  the  opening  of  their  exhibition  in  1824,  quotes  the 
strong  language  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  that "  the  genius  of  architec- 
ture seems  to  have  shed  its  malediction  over  this  land ;"  and 

*  Appendix  (C.) 


IN   THE   UNITED    STATES.  173 

the  accomplished  friend  of  Art,  confirms  the  sentence.  But 
since  that  address  was  delivered,  a  change  has  passed  over  us 
and  the  power  of  the  curse  has  been  greatly  diminished.  The 
simple  grandeur  of  the  Doric,  the  feminine  dignity  of  the  Ion- 
ic, and  the  leafy  grace  of  the  Corinthian,  as  they  have  been 
presented  to  us  by  the  labors  of  those  of  our  countrymen,  who 
have  gone  back  through  ages  of  barbarism  to  find  masters  in 
the  Grecian  schools,  have  already  done  much  to  win  us  from 
our  childish  fondness  for  modern  frippery.  A  few  noble  build- 
ings (especially  I  may  say,  some  which  adorn  our  own  city 
and  its  neighborhood,)  have  given  a  wide-spread  influence  to 
a  better  taste,  and  the  ruling  desire  is  now  evidently  for  the 
pure,  rather  than  the  showy.  It  is  true  that  our  means  or  our 
spirit  have  not  as  yet  warranted  the  erection  of  many  massive 
structures,  but  we  begin  to  see  on  every  hand  the  well  pro- 
portioned pediment,  the  harmonious  fajade,  and  interiors  stu- 
diously correspondent  to  the  external  style.  Perhaps  our  im- 
itation of  ancient  models  has  been  even  too  strict.  There  must 
be,  in  the  end,  more  adaptation  to  our  climate  and  peculiar 
circumstances.  If  we  are  obliged  to  make  Egyptian  build- 
ings several  stories  high,  we  certainly  are  not  obliged  to  con- 
fine the  ornaments  to  the  eternal  scarabasus,  a  most  unseemly 
emblem  of  a  false  mythology ;  nor  when  copying  the  lines  of 
a  Grecian  temple  for  a  Christian  church,  need  we  insist  up- 
on retaining  the  attributes  of  the  heathen  god.  The  ancients 
were  never  guilty  of  such  mistakes.  There  was  an  intellec- 
tuality in  their  architecture,  which  always  expressed  the  pur- 
pose of  an  edifice,  not  only  in  its  general  structure,  but  m  the 
most  minute  decoration.  They  never  built  a  temple  of  Plutus 
15* 


174  THE   PROSPECTS    OP  ART 

in  the  noble  style  which  enshrined  the  Olympian  Jove,  or  a 
shrine  of  the  virgin  Minerva  in  all  the  florid  luxuriance  which 
the  Corinthian  goddess  loved  so  well.  The  vine-wreaths  of 
Bacchus  were  never  seen  on  the  gates  of  Diana,  nor  the  pea- 
cock of  Juno,  where  the  doves  and  sparrows  of  Venus  should 
have  sported.  But  such  incongruities  (my  remarks  upon 
which  may  seem  hypercritical,)  will  soon  be  avoided.  Nice 
imitation  of  faultless  models  is  the  best  study  for  our  infant 
architecture.  After  the  mind  is  filled  with  pure  ideas,  and 
the  taste  refined  by  conversation  with  perfect  forms,  we  shall 
be  better  prepared  to  combine,  adapt,  and  invent. 

The  Gothic  order,  that  wonderful  combination  of  solemn 
grandeur  with  luxuriant  tracery,  which  astounds  and  enchants 
the  American  traveller  in  Europe,  as  he  treads  the  aisles  of 
time-worn  cathedrals  and  crumbling  cloisters,  can  never  at 
least  ought  never  to  be  established  among  us,  at  least  not  un- 
til we  build  merely  for  the  sake  of  building.  The  gloom  of 
the  dark  ages,  in  Avhich  it  arose,  has  passed  away.  Our 
churches  are  now  the  abodes  of  clear  truth,  not  of  oppressive 
mystery  ;  places  of  lowly  and  glad  worship,  not  of  long  pro- 
cessions and  pompous  display.  The  Grecian  styles  suit  our 
religion  far  better.  The  false  poetry  of  "a  dim  religious 
light"  does  not  agree  with  our  faith  in  the  God  of  love,  who 
lifts  upon  his  people  the  smile  of  a  father's  countenance.  To 
one  who  has  visited  "  Fair  Melrose,"  "  Fairy  Roslin,"  the 
Seventh  Henry's  Chapel,  the  subUme  Yorkminster,  the  ruins 
of  ancient  St.  Joseph's  at  Glastonbury,  or  the  magnificent  ca- 
thedrals and  beU  towers  on  the  continent,  there  is  not  a  Gothic 
building  in  our  land  that  does  not  look  a  puny  and  ridiculous 


IN   THE   UNITED    STA.TES.  175 

abortion.  Yet  candor  must  admit,  that  our  recent  ecclesias- 
tical buildings,  after  the  Grecian  models,  promise  a  far  better 
taste  and  propriety  than  the  modern  churches  in  our  mother 
country.  The  high-backed  pews ;  the  inconvenient  and  mean- 
ingless recesses  by  which  the  church  is  tortured  into  the  shape 
of  the  cross ;  the  gloomy  windows,  granting  little  light,  and 
less  air ;  the  tub-like  pulpits,  in  which  the  preacher  suffers 
like  another  Regulus,  and  the  dizzy  galleries,  where  the  peo- 
ple look  like  swallows  on  the  house-top,  have  given  place  to 
arrangements,  which  enable  all  to  see  and  hear  and  worship 
without  doing  penance. 

It  has  been  objected  to  us,  that  we  use  inferior  materials, 
such  as  wood  and  stuccoed  brick,  instead  of  stone  and  marble ; 
and  it  were  well  if  we  could  afford  to  employ  the  more  mas- 
sive and  durable ;  but  certainly  anything  is  better  than  red 
brick  and  glaring  freestone.  It  is  not  an  improbable  theory, 
the  pines  of  Thessaly,  and  the  oaks  of  Dodona  in  Epirus,  gave 
the  Greeks  their  first  ideas  of  tall  columns  and  massive  pillars, 
as  the  interbranching  of  the  Druid  groves  taught  the  Gothic 
arch.  The  architrave,  the  triglyphs  and  metopse,  are  memo- 
rials of  the  use  of  timber  before  the  quarries  of  Pentelicus 
were  opened.  Why  may  we  not  hew  our  stately  trees  until 
we  are  able  to  copy  them  in  laborious  stone  ?  Why  may  we 
not  face  our  bricks  with  composition  until  we  can  do  more 
than  imitate  the  Romans,  vfho  faced  them  with  marble  ?  Color 
and  form  are  far  more  important  than  material.  I  am  grate- 
ful to  every  citizen  who  relieves  my  eye  by  painting  his  house 
any  hue  but  red,  provided  he  do  not  choose  a  tawny  yellow.* 

*  Appendix  (D.) 


176  THE  PROSPECTS    OF  ART 

Encourage  yourselves,  gentlemen,  in  all  your  departments, 
by  this  rapid  growth  of  taste  in  architecture.  It  assures  you 
that  your  countrymen  have  an  eye  for  proportion  and  purity, 
to  which  no  art  of  design  can  long  appeal  in  vain. 

Our  strong  national  enthusiasm  in  favor  of  everything 
American,  is  another  sure  ground  of  encouragement.  We 
have  often  carried  this  to  a  ridiculous  excess ;  but  it  is  an 
amiable  and  honorable  characteristic  that  we  long  to  stand 
well  in  the  opinion  of  the  world ;  nay,  it  is  a  philanthropic 
wish,  which  prompts  us  to  recommend  our  free  principles  for 
universal  adoption.  It  is,  indeed,  mortifying  to  read  the  ex- 
travagant praise  lavished  by  kind-hearted  critics  upon  every 
person  and  every  thing  that  appears  before  the  public.  If 
Cicero  were  to  arise  from  the  dead,  and  pronounce  an  oration 
before  us,  he  would  be  obliged  to  share  epithets  with  every 
fledgeling  lecturer,  or  electioneering  declauner.  The  anony- 
mous fiUer  up  of  the  poet's  corner  in  a  daily  newspaper, 
always  sings  like  Homer,  but 

"  Never  like  him  nods." 

A  surgeon  cannot  set  a  broken  finger,  or  a  physician  admin- 
ister a  bolus,  but  the  grateful  patient  proclaims  him  a  very 
Aristotle  or  Hippocrates. 

"  He  beats  the  deathless  Esculapius  hollow, 
And  makes  a  starveling  druggist  of  Apollo." 

We  have  clever  men  undoubtedly.  We  have  had,  still  have, 
and  shall  have  great  ones.  But  all  the  Eomans  were  not 
Fabii ;  and  black  swans  are  rare  as  ever,  except  in  New 


IN    THE    UNITED    STATES.  177 

Holland.  Even  American  humanity  must  have  some  pig- 
mies, if  it  be  only  for  the  sake  of  showing  off  our  giants  by 
the  contrast.  Such  injudicious  encomium  has  an  especially 
mischievous  effect  upon  the  young  Artist.  He  is  peculiarly 
sensitive  of  public  opinion.     I  will  not  say  that  he  belongs  to 

"  A  simple  race,  who  waste  their  toil 
For  the  vain  tribute  of  a  smile :" 

but  he  feels  that  it  is  not  enough  to  cry  with  the  Pisan  before 
his  own  works,  "  Bene !  Bene  !"  without  an  echo  to  his  ex- 
clamation. It  is  the  hope  of  praise  which  cheers  him.  in  his 
lone  and  enthusiastic  toil ;  but,  if  praise  be  withheld,  his  gen- 
ius droops  the  wing  and  dies.  It  is  most  unkind  to  feed  this 
generous  appetite  into  morbid  extravagance,  as  unkind  as  it 
was  in  that  populace  who  smothered  their  patriot  with  the 
robes  they  heaped  upon  him  for  his  honor.  Chiselling  a  head, 
without  a  model,  from  a  rough  stone,  does  not  make  a  Phidias 
or  Thorwaldsen ;  painting  one  fair  face,  a  Titian  or  a  Guide ; 
or  copying  a  landscape,  a  Salvator  or  Poussin.  Long  study 
and  learning,  the  abandonment  of  many  a  habit,  and  patient 
failure,  were  necessary  to  raise  even  the  best  masters  to  de- 
served eminence.  Eaffaelle  learned  from  Massaccio.  The 
Artist,  even  when  he  finds  the  flattering  unction  most  sweet, 
knows  that  there  should  be  some  extraordinary  merit  to  de- 
serve it.  He  becomes  impatient  of  a  slow  and  sure  pro- 
gress, and  is  sadly  tempted  to  substitute  eccentricity  for 
boldness ;  glare  for  brilliancy,  or  dark  confusion  for  depth  of 
shadow.  He  varies  his  pursuit,  and,  forgetting  the  maxim : 
"  NoH  omnes  omnia,"  undertakes  to  excel  where  his  genius 


178  THE   PROSPECTS    OF   ART 

does  not  lead.  All  this,  the  more  prudent  and  experienced 
among  you  know  well,  but  a  word  of  caution  may  not  be  lost. 
Let  us  all  remember,  that  the  truest  friendship  is  that  which 
points  out  faults  with  kindness,  and  praises  with  faithful  cau- 
tion. We  learn  best  from  those  who  tell  us  when  we  are 
wrong.  The  most  ignorant  can  thus  teach  something,  as  the 
cobbler  who  criticized  the  shoe  of  Apelles,  or  an  indignant 
laundress,  who  protested  that  she  never  washed  the  shirt  with 
which  Jarvis  had  indued  her  master. 

There  is  a  fault  in  our  country,  now  less  rarely  met  with, 
of  condemning  without  measure  or  exception,  everything 
American.     It  is  chiefly  to  be  found  among  those  who  return 

"  from  foreign  tour, 
Grown  ten  times  perter  than  before ;" 

too  good  to  be  plain  repubhcans,  after  having  uncovered  their 
heads  to  royalty,  or  stood  within  the  threshold  of  an  aristo- 
cratic ball  room;  who  can  talk  of  nothing  but  dinners  at 
Very's ;  ices  at  the  Cafe  de  Paris,  or  green  oysters  at  the 
Rocher  de  Cancale ;  who  have  either  not  mind  enough,  or  not 
heart  enough,  to  love  their  own  land  above  all  others.  These 
men  will  pass  through  your  exhibitions,  "  naso  adunco,"  full 
of  scraps  from  foreign  languages,  and  abusing,  by  misuse,  the 
terms  of  Art,  give  you  to  understand  that,  in  their  opinion, 
nothing  which  you  can  produce,  is  worth  looking  at  by  one 
who  has  seen  the  Buckingham  Gallery,  the  Louvre,  the  Vati- 
can or  the  Bourbon  Collections.  They  will  often  parade  upon 
their  walls  miserable  dark  daubs,  imposed  upon  them  by 
scheming  picture  dealers,  as  works  of  the  old  masters,  but 


IN   THE   UNITED    STATES.  179 

cannot  think,  for  a  moment,  of  buying  an  American  picture. 
Heed  them  not.  The  true  lover  of  Art  sees  some  beauty 
even  in  a  poorer  picture,  and  can  detect  a  latent  power  in  the 
new  and  nameless  pencil.  He  must  prefer  the  best ;  but,  as 
a  critic  and  a  patriot,  he  will  acknowledge  the  good  if  a  coun- 
tryman has  produced  it ;  and,  for  Art's  sake,  he  is  sure  to  en- 
courage merit,  however  slight  it  may  seem  at  first  to  be. 
There  is,  for  instance,  a  sign  of  a  horse  on  Market  street, 
which  I  often  see  in  my  walks ;  faulty  it  may  be,  and  injured 
by  exposure  to  all  weathers,  and  yet,  I  venture  to  assert,  that 
one  who  can  look  at  it  without  some  degree  of  pleasure,  would 
scarcely  enjoy  Paul  Potter's  bull. 

Notwithstanding  these  opposite  errors,  we  may  rely  with 
confidence  upon  our  strong  sense  of  national  reputation  for 
the  support  of  Art.  Let  it  be  shown  by  your  skill  and  devo- 
tion, that  the  Arts  do  embellish  and  exalt  our  country,  and 
and  they  shall  receive  a  grateful  return  of  reward  and  honor. 

It  is  well  for  those,  who  have  sufiicient  wealth,  to  bring 
among  us  good  works  of  foreign  or  ancient  masters,  especially 
if  they  allow  free  access  to  them  for  students  and  copyists. 
The  true  gems  are,  however,  rare,  and  very  costly.  A  single 
masterpiece  would  swallow  up  the  whole  sum,  which  even  the 
richest  of  our  countrymen  would  be  willing  to  devote  in  the 
purchase  of  paintings.  I  hope,  however,  soon  to  see  the  day, 
when  there  shall  be  a  fondness  for  making  collections  of  works 
hy  American  Artists,  or  those  resident  among  us.  Such  col- 
lections, judiciously  made,  would  supply  the  best  history  of 
the  rise  and  progress  of  the  Arts  in  the  United  States.  They 
would,  more  than  any  other  means,  stimulate  Artists  to  a 


180  THE   PROSPECTS    OF   ART 

generous  emulation.  Thej  would  reflect  high  honor  upon 
their  possessors,  as  men  who  love  Art  for  its  own  sake,  and 
are  willing  to  serve  and  encourage  it.  They  would  highly 
gratify  the  foreigner  of  taste,  who  comes  curious  to  observe 
the  working  of  our  institutions  and  our  habits  of  life.  He 
does  not  cross  the  sea  to  find  Van  Dycks  and  Murillos.  He 
can  enjoy  them  at  home ;  but  he  wishes  to  discover  what  the 
children  of  the  "West  can  do  in  following  or  excelling  Euro- 
pean example.  The  expense  of  such  a  collection  could  not 
be  very  great.  A  few  thousands  of  dollars,  less  than  is  often 
lavished  upon  the  French  plate  glass  and  lustres,  damask 
hangings,  and  Turkey  carpets,  of  a  pair  of  parlors,  (more  than 
which  few  of  our  houses  can  boast)  would  cover  their  walls 
with  good  specimens  of  American  Art,  and  do  far  more  credit 
to  the  taste  and  heart  of  the  owner.  Rich  furniture,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  bad  taste  of  crowding  with  it  such  petty  apart- 
ments, is  little  better  than  a  selfish  and  rude  ostentation  of 
wealth,  to  excite  the  envy  of  guests ;  and  it  is  not  in  human 
nature  to  think  better  of  others,  who  insist  upon  showing  that 
they  are  richer  than  we.  Riches,  though  they  gain,  for  ob- 
vious reasons,  outAvard  deference,  when  they  are  mere  riches 
without  taste  or  refinement,  are  always  secretly  despised,  and 
their  possessors  are,  by  the  judgment  of  the  world,  like  vile 
pottery  upon  which  gold  has  been  wasted  in  useless  gilding. 
There  are  those,  who  cannot  look  upon  a  mirror  without  see- 
ing within  it  a  beautiful  picture,  dearer  to  their  eyes  than  any 
other  upon  earth ;  but  many  of  us  would  prefer  a  landscape 
by  Coles  or  Doughty,  to  any  such  personal  reflections  of  our- 
selves ;  and  care  little  whether  we  trod  upon  Brussels  or  in- 


IN    THE    UNITED    STATES.  181 

grain,  sat  upon  velvet  or  hair  cloth,  if  we  might,  by  the  kind 
bounty  of  our  entertainer,  enjoy  the  genius  of  our  dear  native 
land.  It  has  become,  I  am  told,  unfashionable  to  put  pictures 
upon  the  walls,  except  it  be  in  a  gallery,  which  few  can  afford 
to  have.  If  so,  it  is  a  bad  habit,  which  should  be  amended  ; 
a  habit  which  must  lower  us  in  the  scale  of  true  refinement, 
and  greatly  impede  the  progress  of  true  taste. 

Our  national  enterprise,  in  pursuit  of  wealth,  will  also  serve 
the  cause  of  the  liberal  arts,  when  their  value  is  better  under- 
stood. A  large  portion  of  the  population  of  Italy,  and  other 
countries  of  the  old  world,  live  upon  the  Arts  alone ;  and  our 
Artists,  if  properly  encouraged,  would,  instead  of  being  com- 
pelled, as  many  of  them  are,  to  reside  abroad,  induce  the  flow 
of  wealth,  the  rewards  of  their  skill,  into  their  native  land. 
There  can  be  no  multiplication  of  wealth  so  great  as  that 
which  may  be  secured  by  the  application  of  colors  to  a  sheet 
of  canvas,  of  the  chisel  to  a  block  of  stone,  or  of  the  graver 
to  a  plate  of  copper,  when  directed  by  the  hand  of  genius. 
The  colors  which  combined  to  make  a  masterpiece,  now  worth 
a  prince's  revenue,  were  originally  purchased  for  a  few  dol- 
lars. A  slight  etching,  by  Rembrandt,  sold  at  auction,  a  few 
years  since,  in  London,  for  a  hundred  and  twenty  guineas ; 
and  the  late  William  Carey,  whose  zeal  for  the  Arts  expired 
only  with  his  life,  asserts,  in  his  Address  to  your  Association, 
that  the  copper  plate  on  which  WooUet  engraved  West's 
Death  of  Wolfe,  produced  a  gain  of  not  less  than  fourteen 
thousand  pounds. 

The  influence  of  Art  upon  necessary  trades  and  manufac- 
tures is  very  valuable.     The  more  graceful  forms  are  ever 
16 


182  THE  PROSPECTS    OF   ART 

the  more  simple,  useful,  and  even  economical ;  and  the  most 
common  articles  of  household  service  may  be  profitably  modi- 
fied after  the  lines  of  a  true  taste.  It  is  the  taste  displayed  in 
the  colors  and  patterns  of  calicoes  and  ginghams,  which  urges 
their  sale  more  than  any  comparative  excellence  of  the  fabrics  ; 
and  the  country  girl,  who  chooses  her  holiday  dress,  does  an 
unwitting  homage  to  the  same  genius  the  amateur  admires  in 
the  finished  picture.  The  cabinet-maker,  who  judiciously 
copies  most  from  the  antique,  will  find  the  most  ready  demand 
for  his  furniture,  even  from  those  who  never  dream  of  being 
indebted  to  liberal  art ;  and  many  a  diligent  mechanic,  who 
has  spent  hard  labor  upon  good  mahogany,  and  wonders  why 
his  ware  lingers  upon  his  hands,  might  find  the  secret  of  his 
ill  success  in  a  disproportioned  panel,  a  stumpy  column,  or  a 
spindle  leg.  It  is  well  known,  that  skilful  Artists  are  em- 
ployed by  the  manufacturers  of  useful  articles  in  Europe,  to 
suggest  their  forms  and  embellishments.  Wedgewood,  a 
Staffordshire  potter,  secured  an  unrivalled  preeminence  for 
his  earthen-ware,  by  his  fortunate  engagement  of  young  Flax- 
man  to  model  his  vessels.  The  Artist,  thus  introduced  to  no- 
tice, afterwards  became  the  most  gifted  and  spiritual  sculptor 
of  modem  times ;  but  not  before  he  had  made  the  fortune  of 
his  early  patron,  and  improved  the  trade  of  England  immea- 
surably ;  so  that  it  may  with  truth  be  said,  that  the  same  ge- 
nius, which  has  illustrated  the  sublime  Homer  and  the  pure 
Euripides,  turned  the  clay  of  Staffordshire  into  more  than 
gold.  Our  manufactures  need  such  an  influence  from  Art 
more  than  anything  else,  and  a  liberal  and  far-sighted  patron- 
age of  Artists  would  soon  render  it  unnecessary,  by  the  con- 


IN   THE   UNITED    STATES.  183 

sent  of  all,  to  strain  the  constitution  for  the  enactment  of  pro- 
tective tariffs. 

But  we  may  look  for  the  success  of  Art  in  the  United 
States  to  higher  causes.  The  remains  of  Puritan  severity, 
and  Quaker  stiffness,  with  the  incessant  demand  upon  our  en- 
terprise, made  by  the  circumstances  of  a  new  country,  have 
not  been  favorable  to  the  development  of  genius  among  us ; 
yet  enough  has  been  seen  to  show  that  our  people  have  a 
sti'ong  sense  of  poetry  and  eloquence.  We  have  very  few 
great  poets,  but  we  have  very  many  whose  artless  fingers 
draw  sweet  and  glowing  strains  from  the  lute  and  lyre.  Our 
scenery,  our  noble  rivers,  rushing  streams,  limpid  lakes,  wild 
cascades,  deep  forests,  gorgeous  sunsets,  clear  atmosphere,  and 
autumnal  variegation,  with  the  high  aspirations  which  free- 
dom awakens  in  every  generous  bosom,  give  us  all  the  thoughts 
of  poetry.  The  power  of  expressing  thought  in  rapid  and 
energetic  language,  is  an  American  characteristic-  To  say 
nothing  of  the  high  eloquence  which  is  heard  in  our  legisla- 
tive halls,  our  courts  of  justice  and  our  pulpits,  there  is  scarcely 
a  man  among  us  who  cannot  rise,  upon  a  fitting  occasion,  and 
harangue  in  good  set  phrases.  Our  'prentice  mechanics  meet 
at  the  close  of  the  day's  labor,  to  cultivate  their  talents  in  es- 
says and  debates.  The  crowds  which  have  thronged  this  hall,* 
and  other  places  of  assemblage  throughout  the  whole  country, 
to  listen  eagerly,  and  with  no  small  discrimination,  to  multi- 
tudes of  clever  orators,  demonstrate  a  general  appreciation  of 
eloquence.  What  is  Art  but  another  form  of  poetry  and  elo- 
quence ?     When  do  we  feel  the  power  of  the  bard  or  of  the 

*  The  Hall  of  the  Musical  Fund  Society. 


184  THE   PROSPECTS    OP  ART 

orator  most  ?  Is  it  not  when  he  brings  the  idea  he  would  im- 
press, fully,  as  in  a  picture,  before  the  eye  of  the  mind? 
Phidias  assured  his  countrymen  that  Homer  was  his  master ; 
and  we  can  never  enter  as  deeply  into  the  spirit  of  the  great 
tragic  writers  of  Attica,  as  when  we  behold  their  thoughts 
made  visible  by  the  designs  of  Flaxman.  Who  that  has 
looked  upon  the  statue  of  the  Dying  Gladiator,  but  has  felt 
the  power  of  the  sculptor  and  the  poet  to  be  of  kindred  source, 
when  he  remembered  Byron's  picture  of  the  same  victim ! 

"  I  see  before  me  the  Gladiator  lie ; 

He  leans  upon  his  hand,  his  manly  brow 
Consents  to  death,  but  conquers  agony, 

And  his  droop'd  head  sinks  gradually  low, 

And  through  his  side  the  last  drops  ebbing  slow, 
Erom  the  red  gash,  fall  heavy,  one  by  one, 

Like  the  first  of  a  thunder  shower ;  but  now 
The  ai-ena  swims  around  him ;  he  is  gone, 
Ere  ceased  the  inhuman  shout  which  hailed  the  wretch  who  won. 

He  heard  it,  but  he  heeded  not — his  eyes 

Were  with  his  heart,  and  that  was  far  away; 
He  recked  not  of  the  life  he  lost  nor  prize, 

But  where  his  rude  hut,  by  the  Danube  lay, 

There  were  his  young  barbarians  all  at  play  — 
There  was  their  Dacian  mother  —  he,  their  sire. 

Butchered  to  make  a  Roman  holiday  — 
All  this  rushed  with  his  blood  —  Shall  he  expire 
And  unrevenged  ?    Arise,  ye  Goths,  and  glut  your  ire !" 

A  young  pupil  of  Thoi'waldsen,  has  recently  surprised  and 
delighted  the  admirers  of  genius  at  Rome,  by  a  figure  of  a 


IK   THE   UNITED    STATES.  185 

girl,  holding  a  sea-shell  to  her  ear,  and  listening  with  child- 
like wonder  to  the  mysterious  sounds  of  the  ocean  she  seems 
to  hear  from  within  it.  A  more  exquisite  subject  for  the 
chisel  can  scarcely  be  imagined  ;  and  it  is  most  unlikely  that 
the  young  German  ever  read  Wordsworth's  Excursion  ;  yet, 
in  that  most  natural  poem,  we  find  the  same  thought. 

"  I  have  seen 
A  carious  child,  who  dwelt  upon  a  tract 
Of  inland  ground,  applying  to  his  ear 
The  convolutions  of  a  smooth-lipp'd  shell, 
To  which,  in  silence  hushed,  his  very  soul 
Listened  intensely ;  and  his  countenance  soon 
Brightened  with  joy ;  for  murmurings  from  within 
"Were  heard,  sonorous  cadences,  whereby, 
To  his^elief,  the  monitor  expressed 
Mysterious  union  with  its  native  sea. 
Even  such  a  shell  the  universe  itself 
Is,  to  the  ear  of  faith." 

Here  is  a  picture  by  a  poet,  the  scenery  of  which  a  Claude 
should  paint,  and  a  Guido  Reni  put  in  the  figures : 

"  As  o'er  the  lake,  in  evening's  glow, 

The  temple  threw  its  lengthening  shade 
Upon  the  marble  steps  below, 

There  sat  a  fair  Corinthian  maid. 
Gracefully  o'er  a  volume  bending ; 

"While  by  her  side  a  youthful  sage 
Held  back  her  ringlets,  lest,  descending, 

They  should  o'ershadow  all  the  page." 

I  have  not  time  for  more  instances,  which  are  abundant     The 
16* 


186  THE   PROSPECTS    OF  ART 

coincidence  between  Art  and  Oratory,  though  equally  striking, 
is  more  difficult  of  illustration ;  for  the  orator,  is  ever  pressing 
forward  to  his  conclusion,  and  the  pictures  he  presents  to  us, 
are  moving,  or  he  shifts   scene  after   scene,  as  he  follows 
thought  with  thought.     Yet  how  fully  does  Massillon  bring 
before  us  the  Magdalene  kneeling  at  the  Saviour's  feet,  in  the 
house  of  the  Pharisee  ?     "What  can  be  finer  than  the  manner 
in  which  he  contrasts  the  death  of  the  sinner  with  that  of  the 
righteous  person ;  how  perfectly,  with  a  painter's  imagination, 
does  he  set  off  the  lights  of  the  one  with  the  shadows  of  the 
other  ?     But  Massillon,  in  his  Life  of  Correggio,  proves  how 
deep  his  sympathy  with  Art  was.     Barrow's  description  of 
the  crucifixion,  in  his  sermon  on  the  passion  of  our  Lord, 
might  be  studied  by  the  Artist  for  a  better  picture  than  has 
ever  been  produced  on  the  subject.     Then,  what  noble  illus- 
trations of  moral  truth  might  be   copied  from   portions  of 
Burke's  Speeches  in  Parliament  ?     What  force  of  grouping 
and  expression  is  there,  when  Anthony  describes  the  death  of 
Caesar,  as 

"  In  his  mantle  muffling  up  his  face, 
Even  at  the  base  of  Pompey's  statue,  which 
All  the  while  ran  blood,  great  Caesar  fell." 

But  I  need  not  detain  you  with  further  examples  to  show 
that 

"  AH  they 
Whose  intellect  is  an  o'ermastering  power, 

Which  still  recoils  from  its  encumbering  clay, 
Or  lightens  it  to  spirit,  whatsoe'er 

The  form  which  their  creations  may  essay, 


IN  THE   UNITED    STATES.  187 

Are  kin  ;  the  kindled  marble's  bust  may  wear 
More  poesy  upon  its  speaking  brow, 

Than  aught  less  than  the  Homeric  page  may  bear. 

One  noble  stroke  with  a  whole  life  may  glow, 

Or  sanctify  the  canvas  till  it  shine 
With  beauty  far  surpassing  all  below, 

*  *  *  # 

Transfused,  transfigured  ;  and  the  line 
Of  poesy,  which  peoples  but  the  air 
With  thoughts  and  beings  of  the  mind  reflected, 
Can  do  no  more." 


The  people  that  can  feel  the  glow  and  grandeur  of  thought, 
must  feel  Art,  when  there  are  productions  worthy  of  the 
name. 

The  common  opinion  may  be  quoted  against  this  argument, 
that  Art  flourishes  best  where  popular  superstitions,  especially 
in  religious  mythology,  supply  subjects  for  the  Artist's  illustra- 
tion. That  opinion  is,  however,  an  error.  The  real  merit 
and  charm  of  Art  is  truth,  and  it  can  never  derive  a  real  ad- 
vantage from  falsity.  It  was  not  the  god,  the  ancients  ad- 
mired in  the  Phidian  Jupiter,  but  the  dignity  of  conscious 
power.  Venus  was  the  ideal  of  voluptuous  beauty,  and 
Minerva  of  pure,  harmonious  wisdom.  It  is  deep  penitence, 
charmed  by  hope  from  its  despair,  that  we  see  in  the  Magda- 
lene ;  a  mother's  serene  and  holy  joy  in  the  Virgin  Mary, 
showing  her  babe  Jesus ;  and  faith,  struggling  with  mortal 
agony,  in  the  dying  Bartholomew.  It  is  not  the  person,  but 
the  attributes,  which  move  our  souls. 


188  THE   PROSPECTS    OP  AKT 

But  are  there  no  subjects  among  us,  which  may  be  made 
the  vehicles  of  such  impressions  ?  Would  not  the  moral  ad- 
vantage of  Art  be  far  greater  if  illustrations  of  virtue  were 
drawn  from  actual  incidents,  or  presented  in  pure  allegory  ? 
That  change  has  taken  place  in  poetry.  We  hear  no  more 
of  Strephons  and  Phillises,  in  our  pastorals ;  and  a  bard  of 
our  own  day,  who  would  invoke  the  "  heavenly  nine,"  or 
"  Phoebe,"  or  the  "  Golden-haired  god  of  Day,"  would  find 
them  unable  to  propitiate  us  to  a  further  reading.  Why  may 
not  Art  be  stripped  of  unnatural  envelopments  ?  Our  his- 
tory, our  daily  lives  are  full  of  subjects  for  the  painter's 
study  ;  —  the  mother  of  Washington  teaching  her  boy  those 
sublime  lessons,  which,  by  the  grace  of  God,  made  him  "  first 
in  war,  first  in  peace,  first  in  the  hearts  of  his  countrymen ;" 
Patrick  Henry,  denouncing  the  tyranny  of  Britain,  in  the 
Virginian  council  house ;  the  patriot-mother  arming  her  first- 
born for  the  doubtful  conflict ;  the  virgin,  tearless  in  her  lofly 
hope,  sending  her  lover  to  the  long  campaign,  and  promising  her 
livelong  faith  for  no  less  reward  than  her  country's  freedom. 
Or,  if  you  wish  a  presentment  of  venerable  piety,  holy  be- 
nevolence and  wisdom  in  meekness,  bid  the  sculptor  preserve 
in  undying  marble  the  patriarchal  form  of  him,  whom  every 
sect  acknowledged  "  a  Father  in  God ;"  and  who  hngered  so 
long  among  us,  shedding  his  soft  religion  around  like  the  mild 
rays  of  a  summer's  sunset,  that  he  seemed  like  virtue  which 
can  never  die,  though  heart  and  flesh  must  fail.  It  is  a 
shame  to  us,  as  a  religious  community,  that  such  a  work  re- 
mains to  be  done.* 

*  The  late  Bishop  White.    Appendix  (E.) 


IN   THE   UNITED    STATES.  189 

It  is  in  employments  like  these  Art  must  find  her  noblest 
office.  No  patriot,  no  moralist,  no  true  lover  of  Art,  should 
wish  to  see  genius  prostituted  in  producing  nude  and  voluptu- 
ous figures,  appealing  to  profligate  pruriency  for  reward,  and 
corrupting  our  morals  in  return.  Such  abuse  has  done  more 
to  prejudice  the  good  against  Art  than  all  else  beside.  But 
such  abuse  is  not  a  necessary  consequence  of  its  cultivation, 
any  more  than  of  the  pen  or  the  press,  those  mighty  engines 
of  social  good,  though  vile  men  have  often  seduced  them  from 
their  true  purpose.  Let  it  be  your  care,  gentlemen  Artists, 
to  guard  the  fire  of  genius  with  vestal  watchfulness. 

There  never  was,  I  believe,  a  body  of  Artists  in  whom 
greater  confidence  can  be  reposed  for  this  end,  than  those  of 
our  country.  The  time  has  gone  by,  when  profligacy  was 
excused  as  an  eccentricity  of  genius ;  when  talent  had  license 
for  the  breach  of  contracts,  and  envy  and  detraction  made 
enemies  of  brothers  in  Art.  You  have  proved  to  us  that 
Artists,  to  deserve  an  entrance  into  your  fraternity,  must  be  gen- 
tlemen, to  whom  truth  and  honor  and  liberal  feeling,  are  dearer 
even  than  fame  itself.  Your  generous  desire  that  no  distinc- 
tion in  the  national  patronage  should  be  made,  between  the 
native  Artist  and  the  foreigner  resident  among  you,  is  a  high 
example  of  philosophic  freedom  from  petty  jealousy,  which 
might  be  imitated  with  advantage  in  some  other  quarters.* 
Hold  on  your  noble  course.  You  shall  reap  the  reward 
which  virtue  and  genius  deserve.  You  will  ask  no  more. 
Trial  is  the  lot  of  genius,  as  the  fire  which  purifies ;  but  the 

*  Appendix  (F.) 


190  THE   PROSPECTS    OF   ART 

consciousness  of  high  aims  is  an  ever-present  consolation.  If 
I  dared  to  assume  such  language,  I  might  address  you,  as 
Wordsworth  did  the  painter,  Haydon : 

"  High  is  our  calling,  friends,  creative  art 
(Whether  the  instrument  of  words  she  use 
Or  pencil  pregnant  with  ethereal  hues) 
Demands  the  service  of  a  mind  and  heart, 
Though  sensitive,  yet  in  their  weakest  part 

Heroically  fashioned,  —  to  infuse 

Faith  in  the  whispers  of  the  lonely  muse, 
While  the  whole  world  seems  adverse  to  desert. — 

And  oh  !  when  nature  sinks,  as  oft  she  may 
Through  long-lived  pressure  of  ohscure  distress, 
Still  to  he  strenuous  for  the  liigh  reward, 

And  in  the  soul  admit  of  no  decay. 
Brook  no  continuance  of  weak  mindedness  — 

Great  is  the  glory,  for  the  strife  is  hard !" 

Let  me  also  intreat  from  you,  a  grateful  veneration  for 
that  Divine  Author  and  Benefactor  of  our  being,  who  has 
surrounded  us  with  so  many  objects  of  beauty  and  grandeur, 
and  given  us  an  eye  and  heart  to  enjoy  the  loveliness  and 
magnificence  of  his  works.  Shall  we  feel  the  rapture  He 
enkindles  in  our  souls,  and  return  no  adoration  and  trust  ? 
Are  not  all  his  doings  in  nature  intimations  of  Himself,  faint 
shinings  forth  of  that  world  of  beauty,  love,  and  truth, 
where  he  will  receive  all  who  know  Him  here  ?  If  "  an  un- 
devout  astronomer  be  mad,"  so  must  be  an  infidel  artist :  for 
he  lives  among  miracles,  and  owns  no  faith.  Believe  me, 
genius  hath  no  school  like  Religion,  no  teacher  like  Christian 
Hope.     No  where  but  in  that  Book,  whose  author  hath  writ 


IN   THE   UNITED    STATES.  191 

His  name  on  nature,  can  we  find  such  depths  of  tenderness, 
such  loftiness  of  thought,  such  imaginations  of  glorj,  such 
purity  of  truth.  Our  calling  here  should  ever  be  a  prepara- 
tion for  immortality.  Poor  will  be  the  result  of  the  most 
successful  search  after  this  world's  honors,  if,  when  life's  last 
scene  has  shifted  from  before  us,  we  are  not  permitted  to  hear 
the  voice  of  the  Redeemer  saying :  "  Friend,  come  up  high- 
er !"  There  is  but  one  way  that  leads  to  that  sublime  rest, 
where  the  soul  lives  in  the  blessedness  of  her  strength.  There 
is  but  one  portal  through  which  we  can  pass  to  behold  the 
face  of  God  in  love.  It  is  the  way  of  holy  faith,  fruitful  in 
good  works ;  the  perfect  merit  of  the  Lamb  of  God.  May 
that  faith,  and  that  inheritance,  be  given  to  us  all ! 


APPENDIX. 

(A.) 

In  no  department  of  Art  has  there  been  a  more  rapid  advance  than 
in  the  application  of  water  colors,  for  a  few  years  past.  The  British  So- 
ciety of  Water  Color  Painters,  have,  in  their  several  exhibitions,  shown 
results  surprising  and  delightful,  which  are  but  promises  of  yet  more  ex- 
quisite perfection.  The  cheapness  and  facility  of  this  Art  should  recom- 
mend it  to  an  increased  attention  in  this  country,  as  well  calculated  to 
enlarge  and  refine  the  general  taste  among  us. 

(B.) 

Some  allusion  to  the  fact  here  stated,  may  be  found  in  a  very  inter- 
esting address  of  our  estimable  fellow  citizen,  Mr.  Thomas  I.  Wharton, 
before  the  Society  for  the  Celebration  of  the  Landing  of  William  Penn, 
some  years  since.  Mr.  D.  P.  Brown  has  also  treated  it  with  his  wonted 
spirit,  in  his  letter  to  Lord  Brougham. 


192  THE   PROSPECTS    OF  ABT 

(C.) 

I  have  no  doubt,  but  that  a  better  knowledge  than  my  own,  would 
have  suggested  the  names  of  not  a  few  other  of  our  native  Artists  as 
worthy  of  mention ;  and  it  is  particularly  pleasing  to  know,  that  tbere 
are  those,  yet  young  in  years  and  Art,  who  bid  fair  to  need  no  friendly 
herald  to  precede  them  in  their  way  to  well  deserved  fame. 

(D.) 

The  author  would  not  condemn  all  shades  of  yellow  in  the  painting 
of  houses,  but  only  the  more  glaring  and  the  more  heavy.  There  is  a 
pale  gentle  yellow,  (I  use  the  term  not  with  artistical  niccness,  but  in  its 
common  sense,)  which  is  very  pleasing  ;  but  even  red  itself  is  almost  as 
tolerable,  as  the  vulgar  gaudiness,  or  the  dull  deadness,  with  which  some 
of  our  citizens  have  coated  their  buildings. 

(E.) 

I  am  happy  to  learn  that  the  subscription  list  to  an  engraving,  now  in 
progress  by  WagstafF,  of  London,  from  Mr.  Inman's  admirable  whole 
length  of  the  good  Bishop,  shows  a  very  general  reverence  and  love  for 
his  memory,  as  it  embraces  the  names  of  persons  belonging  to  every  re- 
ligious denomination  in  this  city.  Some  yet  more  durable  and  public 
monument  should,  however,  be  erected  to  commemorate  such  unusual 
worth.  It  is  to  be  hoped,  that  the  design  talked  of  some  years  since,  of 
a  monumental  statue  in  the  vestibule  of  Christ  Church,  may  be  revived. 
Few  among  us  would  refuse  to  contribute  for  the  purpose,  and  we  shall 
not  soon  have  so  fair  an  opportunity  of  securing  a  costly  work  of  Art, 
which  will  do  honor  at  once  to  the  taste  and  the  religious  sentiment  of 
our  community.  Inman's  picture,  (or  the  engraving  from  it,)  vfiW  afford 
the  sculptor  the  best  authority,  as  it  is  considered  by  the  family  and 
friends  of  the  Bishop,  to  be  as  remarkable  for  its  truth  of  resemblance  as 
for  its  power  of  execution. 

I  am  happy  to  have  here  an  opportunity  of  spreading  before  the  pub- 
lic, the  noble  Memorial  of  the  Artists  of  Philadelphia  to  the  Congress  of 
the  United  States,  at  the  time  when  there  was  some  hesitancy  as  to  the 
propriety  of  giving  the  public  patronage  to  any  Artists  not  born  among 


m   THE   UNITED    STATES.  193 

us.  It  is  a  paper  full  of  philosophic  truth  and  generous  sentiment,  and 
one  which  the  opponent  of  all  artificial  restrictions  upon  industry  and 
invention  cannot  appreciate  too  highly. 

To  the  Honorable  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the   United 
States,  in  Congress  assembled. 

The  Memorial  of  "  The  Artists'  Fund  Society  of  Philadelphia,"  an  insti- 
tution conducted  exclusively  by  Artists,  and  incorporated  April  29, 
1835,  "  for  the  purpose  of  advancing  the  happiness  of  their  profession- 
al brethren,  and  of  promoting  the  cultivation  of  skill,  the  diflFusion  of 
taste,  and  the  encouragement  of  living  professional  talent  in  the  Arts 
of  Painting,  Sculpture,  Architecture,  and  engraving," 

Eespectfullt  eepeesents : 

That  your  memorialists  have  heard,  with  infinite  pleasure,  of  a  pro- 
position made,  or  about  to  be  made,  before  Congress,  for  the  execution 
of  sculptural  decorations  of  the  east  front  of  the  Capitol,  at  the  seat  of 
the  National  Government,  in  conformity  with  the  requisitions  of  the 
original  for  the  completion  of  that  front ;  and  they  deem  it  not  improper, 
as  citizens  of  the  United  States,  having  an  interest  in  all  that  relates  to 
the  Arts,  to  exercise  a  privilege,  in  common  with  other  professions,  of 
presenting,  for  the  consideration  of  your  honorable  body,  their  views  of 
what,  in  their  opinion,  may  advance  the  public  good,  and  contribute  to 
elevate  the  character  of  those  Arts  which  have  always  been  the  means 
of  transmitting  to  posterity  a  knowledge  of  the  state  of  refinement  and 
intellectual  standing  of  a  people. 

It  is  a  gratifying  evidence  of  the  improvement  of  the  times,  that  while 
the  Useful  Arts  are  most  liberally  encouraged  throughout  this  vast  Re- 
public; while  public  buildings,  canals,  rail-roads,  and  manufactories  are 
rapidly  springing  into  existence,  and  human  ingenuity  and  skill,  in  all 
departments  of  the  Mechanic  Arts,  are  stimulated  to  vigorous  and  re- 
newed exertion.  Congress  has  not  forgotten  to  foster  and  encourage  the 
Fine  Arts. 

The  orders  already  given  for  a  new  device  to  our  national  coin  ;  the 
intended  decoration  of  the  interior  of  our  National  Hall  with  paintings, 
and  the  exterior  with  sculpture,  afford  an  honorable  employment  to  our 
Artists  ;  and,  if  well  executed,  will  both  promote  their  own  excellence 
and  advance  the  public  taste. 

Without  meaning  to  inititute  invidious  comparisons,  or  to  dictate  to 
those  upon  whom  the  selection  of  an  Artist  for  employment  upon  the 

17 


194  THE   PKOSPECTS    OF  ART 

Capitol  devolves,  your  memorialists  respectfully  present  to  your  notice 
the  name  of  Luigi  Persico,  a  sculptor,  now  in  Washington,  who  hoth 
as  an  Artist  and  a  man,  is  entitled  to  distinguished  consideration. 

Mr.  Persico  is  an  Italian  by  birtli,  and  your  memorialists  are  aware 
that  many  of  their  countrymen  believe  that  none  but  natives  are  enti- 
tled to  Government  patronage  ;  but  your  memorialists  dissent  from  this 
doctrine,  and  entertain  the  opinion  that  Artists  of  genius  and  high 
moral  character,  whose  works  have  a  tendency  to  exalt  the  sentiments, 
and  refine  the  manners  of  the  age,  should,  upon  the  fair  principles  of 
competition,  find  an  easy  passport  to  employment  in  any  part  of  the 
civilized  world. 

It  would  be  a  matter  of  regret,  if  our  countrymen  should  be  found  less 
liberal  than  the  people  of  other  nations,  in  availing  themselves  of  the 
skill  of  accomplished  foreign  Artists,  whose  merit  is  so  often  accompa- 
nied by  valuable  information  and  refined  taste.  The  examples,  in  this 
respect,  which  have  been  set  for  us  abroad,  are  worthy  of  emulation. 
We  may  point  to  the  i-ecent  case  of  our  gifted  countryman  West,  whose 
name  was  rendered  illustrious  by  the  generous  opportunities  extended 
to  him  in  a  foreign  land,  for  the  development  of  his  genius  in  the  high- 
est department  of  painting ;  who  was  honored  by  the  personal  favors  of 
the  British  monarch ;  and  even  when  the  fame  of  Sir  Joshua  Eeynolds, 
the  founder  of  the  English  school,  was  at  its  height,  received  the  ap- 
pointment of  Historical  Painter  to  the  King.  But  the  American  Artist, 
in  the  true  spirit  of  republican  simplicity,  rejected  the  royal  proffer  of 
knighthood,  received  a  more  honorable  distinction  —  the  presidential 
chair  of  the  Eoyal  Academy  of  Arts,  given  by  the  vote  of  the  English 
Artists.  Copley,  too,  an  American,  was  honorablj'  received  and  en- 
couraged in  England,  as  were  our  Leslie,  our  Newton,  and  others,  who 
long  since  were  acknowledged  to  be  distinguished  ornaments  of  the 
British  school.  Much  might  be  said,  likewise,  of  the  liberal  encourage- 
ment held  out  to  foreigners  upon  the  European  continent :  a  striking 
instance  of  which  is  presented  in  Thorwaldsen,  by  birth  a  Swede,  who 
was  drawn  from  obscurity  by  the  fostering  care  of  foreign  patronage, 
and  is  now  the  boast  of  the  Italian  school  of  sculpture.  This  may,  pos- 
sibly, be  the  first  petition  which  has  reached  your  honorable  body  from 
a  Society  of  Artists  ;  but,  unobtrusive  as  their  profession  maybe,  your 
memorialists  gladly,  in  the  present  instance,  avail  themselves  of  their 
constitutional  privilege,  to  present  to  you  their  decided  conviction,  that, 
to  give  an  intellectual  character  to  the  Arts  of  a  country,  tliey  must  be 
advanced  to  that  standard  by  the  impulse  of  unrestricted  competition 
and  generous  patronage,  and  that  regard  should  be  had  to  no  other 


IN    THE    UNITED    STATES.  195 

qualifications  but  those  of  merit ;  and  that  an  equal  influence  should  be 
shed  upon  all  who  reside  among  us,  whether  their  birth-place  be  in  this 
or  in  another  land.  Therefore,  dismissing  every  naiTOW  jealousy  and 
contracting  prejudice,  it  is  with  pride  that  your  memorialists  —  the 
greater  part  of  whom  are  native  citizens  —  advance  this  doctrine,  which 
they  firmly  believe  involves  the  welfare  of  the  Arts  of  their  beloved 
country. 

Tour  memorialists,  in  conclusion,  respectfully  pray  that  your  honor- 
able body  will  allow  to  Mr.  Persico's  merits  the  weight  to  which  they 
are  justly  entitled,  and  that  you  will  adopt  such  measures  as  your  wis- 
dom may  dictate  in  favor  of  the  object  of  this  Memorial. 
By  order  of  the  Artists'  Fund  Society, 

JOHN  NEAGLE,  President. 
Thomas  B.  Ashton,  Secretary. 

Philadelphia,  February  1,  1837. 


DISCOURSE 


DEATH    OF    WILLIAM    HENRY    HARRISON, 


PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  OE  AMERICA. 


PBONOUNCED   IN   THE   MOBNING   OP 


APRIL  11,  1841, 


PUBLISHED   BY    BEQUEST. 


17* 


DISCOURSE. 


There  is  no  teaclier  of  unerring  truth  but  the  Lord  our 
God,  and  our  meditations  in  his  House  of  Prayer  should  ever 
be  upon  lessons  which  He  hath  given.  It  is  not  only  from 
his  written  Word  that  those  lessons  may  be  learned.  He 
speaks  to  us  by  the  voice  of  Nature,  for  all  his  works  are  elo- 
quent of  instruction ;  and  by  the  doings  of  his  Providence  for 
every  event  is  ordered,  to  remind  us  that  "  He  is  God,  and 
beside  Him  there  is  none  else."  "  There  are  diversities  of 
operations,  but  it  is  the  same  God,  which  worketh  all  in  all." 
Each  is  a  revelation  of  that  Divine  Wisdom,  in  which  the 
awakened  soul  may  hear  "  deep  calling  unto  deep."  Yes ! 
often,  when  the  Bible  seems  written  for  the  careless  heart  in 
vain ;  when  Nature,  with  all  her  varied  wonders,  fails  to  lead 
us  upward  to  her  Maker  and  ours ;  God,  by  some  stupendous 
act  of  Providence,  compels  us  to  tremble  before  his  mysterious 
Presence,  and  own  the  majesty  of  his  resistless  Might.  At 
such  a  time,  we  need  not  search  his  holy  pages  for  a  theme. 
God  gives  the  text,  and  it  becomes  us  humbly  to  bow,  and 
learn  as  "  God  the  Lord  doth  speak." 

His  terror  is  upon  us  now.  As  though  an  archangel  had 
blown  his  trump,  an  oracle  has  come  forth  to  us  from  the  high 


200  ON   THE   DEATH    OF   HARBISON. 

place  of  our  land.  A  wail  of  lamentation,  like  that  of  all  Is- 
rael weeping  in  RarQah,  when  they  buried  Samuel  the  Law- 
giver ;  a  cry  of  dismay,  such  as  burst  from  their  despairing 
hosts  when  the  Ark  was  lost,  has  gone  up  from  this  vast  na- 
tion. The  storm-cloud,  whose  portentous  shadow  suddenly 
darkened  all  our  borders  with  fear,  has  broken  upon  our  heads. 
Our  many-hearted  prayer  has  not  been  heard.  Even  as  the 
beseeching  accents  were  upon  our  lips,  the  bolt  fell  —  had 
fallen.  The  chosen  head  of  his  countrymen ;  the  foremost 
citizen  of  all,  where  all  are  free ;  the  hope,  the  trust,  the  very 
idol  of  millions ;  the  hero,  the  patriot,  the  statesman,  the  vene- 
rable father,  when  as  yet  his  foot  had  but  touched  the  Capito- 
line  height  where  authority  welcomed  him ;  when  the  accla- 
mations, that  hailed  with  thundering  response  his  earnest 
promises  of  determined  fidelity  to  his  country's  welfare,  had 
not  died  away  among  the  far  mountains  of  the  confederacy ; 
before  his  aged  frame,  borne  down  less  by  years  than  honors, 
had  slept  one  calm  sleep  from  the  weariness  of  grateful  joy ; 
hath  ceased  from  among  us,  for  God  hath  taken  him.  The 
laurel  and  the  civic  wreath,  that  but  a  few  days  since  mingled 
their  foliage  with  the  hoariness  of  his  illustrious  head,  are  ly- 
ing yet  green  upon  his  bier.  His  lips,  scarce  cold  from  the 
fervor  of  classic  eloquence,*  and  yet  more  recently  hallowed, 

•  *  The  preacher  frankly  confesses  that  he  is  not  one  of  those  who 
thought  the  classical  references  in  which  our  late  President  so  much 
delighted,  ill-timed  or  out  of  taste.  The  better  writers  of  our  language 
have  abounded  in  them,  and  it  is  a  matter  of  regret  that  such  allusions 
are  not  more  frequent.  There  is  a  gracefulness  about  the  incidents  of 
Greek  and  Roman  story  as  they  have  come  down  to  us,  which  adorns, 
while  their  example  instructs.  The  charge  of  pedantry  is  easily  made 
by  those  who  would  conceal  by  a  sneer  their  own  ignorance  of  what 


ON    THE    DEATH    OF   HARBISON.  201 

as  we  trust,  with  answered  prayer,  shall  speak  no  more  till 
the  morning  of  the  resurrection.  His  ear,  that  had  thrilled 
with  a  nation's  praises,  and  in  his  parting  moments,  with  the 
voice  of  holy  preparation  for  a  meeting  with  God ;  that  was 
never  before  insensible  to  the  voice  of  his  country,  hears  not 
her  moanings  around  his  tomb.  His  kindly  heart,  that  throb- 
bed high  with  noble  purposes,  is  still.  "  The  shield  of  the 
mighty  is  vilely  cast  away,  ...  as  though  he  had  not  been 
anointed  with  oiL"  "  All  they  that  are  about  him  bemoan 
him,  and  all  they  that  know  his  name  say,  How  is  the  strong 
staff  broken  and  the  beautiful  rod  1"  "  For,  behold,  the  Lord, 
the  Lord  of  Hosts  hath  taken "  from  us  ....  "  the  mighty 
man,  and  the  man  of  war,  the  judge  ....  and  the  prudent, 
and  the  ancient,  and  the  honorable  man,  and  the  counsellor 
.  .  .  and  the  eloquent  orator." 

The  calamity  is  ours,  but  for  him  (I  speak  of  this  life, 
leaving  the  decisions  of  eternity  where  they  are  veiled  from 
mortal  sight)  it  is  well.  His  death  has  been  glorious.  His- 
tory hath  scarce  an  equal  instance.  The  most  lofty  station, 
the  most  noble  office  man  can  confer  on  man,  was  his;  but 
one  difficult  as  it  is  eminent,  which  none  has  ever  yet  borne, 
and,  until  political  parties  among  us  learn  a  more  honorable 
charity  than  any  of  them  have  manifested.  I  verily  believe 
none  ever  can  bear,  without  meeting  harsh  and  unjust  judg- 
ment from  the  prejudice  of  opponents.  Indeed,  we  may  say, 
such  is  the  vastness  of  its  care,  the  variety  of  interests  to  be 

every  well-read  man  should  know,  and  their  insensibility  to  that  which 
every  student  must  feel.  No  man  understands  the  present,  who  cannot 
compare  it  with  the  past. 


202  ON  THE  DEATH  OF  HARRISON. 

watched  over  and  adjusted,  and  the  multitude  of  opinions  to 
be  met,  no  mortal  could  fill  that  magistracy  without  exciting 
the  doubts  and  the  censures  of  even  honest,  intelligent  men. 
But  now,  when  hope  in  him  was  at  the  highest ;  before  envy 
had  found  a  joint  in  his  harness  for  a  dart ;  or  suspicion  fixed 
one  shadow  on  his  course ;  or  the  horde  of  ofiice-seeking  syco- 
phants, who  crushed  him  between  the  door-posts  of  his  new 
home  by  their  indecent  pressure,  had  turned  with  malignant 
disappointment  to  bark  at  the  hand  from  which  they  sought 
bread,  but  that  could  not,  or  would  not  feed  them  all ;  he  has 
gone  to  his  rest  with  all  his  honors  fresh  around  him.  He,  at 
least,  was  not  made  to  feel  the  sting  of  ingratitude  and  un- 
merited reproach,  as  every  one  of  those  honorable  patriots 
who  sat  in  that  chair  before  him,  aye,  even  Washington  him- 
self, felt  it.  The  disturber  of  his  memory  must  now  seem 
guilty  of  strange  sacrilege,  as  though  he  robbed  a  grave. 

But  my  duty,  to-day,  is  not  eulogy.  It  is  to  entreat  you, 
in  the  name  of  God,  to  profit  by  the  lessons  He  teaches  us  in 
this  act  of  his  providence. 

What  a  severe  rebuke  does  this  sad  event  give  to 
political  bigotry  and  eash  invective  against  the 
motives  of  those  who  differ  from  us  in  opinion! 

Standing,  in  our  imagination,  this  morning  beside  the  grave 
of  our  departed  patriot,  who,  even  of  those  that  struggled 
most  against  his  rise,  can  look  down  upon  his  sleeping  dust, 
nor  feel  a  pang  of  keen  reproach,  if  ever  he  hath  done  his 
honor  wrong,  or  breathed  a  hasty  word  that  might  have 
touched  his  honest  heart,  or  cast  an  insult  upon  his  time-hon- 
ored name  ?  And  vile,  yes,  very  vile  is  he,  whose  resentments 
the  grave  cannot  still. 


ON   THE    DEATH    OF   HARRISON.  203 

Whence  this  sacredness  which  death  throws  over  the  mem- 
ory of  character  and  life  ?  Is  it  because  the  dead  are  defence- 
less, and  return  not  an  answer  again  ?  Is  it  because  God 
hath  come  in  between  us  and  our  fellow  creature,  and  vindi- 
cated his  right  to  be  judge  alone  ?  Is  it  because  in  the  humi- 
liations of  the  sepulchre,  we  see  the  frailty  of  that  nature  we 
share  with  the  departed,  our  own  aptness  to  err,  and  how  lia- 
ble we  are  to  be  misjudged?  O  my  friends,  why  should  we 
wait  for  death  to  teach  us  charity,  when  it  is  too  late  to  prac- 
tise it,  and  repentance  hath  become  remorse  ?  Why  not  re- 
member that  the  living  require  our  candor  and  forbearance  ? 
Nay,  that  we  need  their  candor  and  forbearance  ?  Why  re- 
serve all  our  gentleness  of  judgment  for  the  dead,  who  are 
beyond  the  reach  of  our  absolution  ?  They  were  once  as  the 
living,  and  the  living  shall  soon  be  as  they.  It  is,  indeed, 
enough  to  bring  us  back  to  a  better  opinion  of  human  nature, 
to  witness  such  a  spectacle  of  union  in  sorrow  and  honor  for 
our  departed  chief  among  those,  who,  a  little  while  since,  were 
divided  into  eai'nest  and  opposing  factions ;  but  oh !  would  it 
not  be  far  more  ennobling,  to  see  the  living  pledging  them- 
selves to  the  living  over  the  fresh  earth  of  his  grave,  that 
henceforth,  though  they  may  honestly  differ  in  their  doctrines 
and  policy,  they  will  yet  believe  in  the  uprightness  of  each 
other's  motives,  and  the  sincerity  of  each  other's  belief?  How 
hateful  does  censorious  bitterness  and  sneering  suspicion  look 
in  the  face  of  your  opponent  ?  Yet  such  is  your  deformity  in 
his  sight,  when  you  revile  his  principles  and  rail  against  Ms 
friends.  When,  oh !  when  shall  this  rancor,  this  cruel  perse- 
cution for  opinion's  sake,  this  damning  inquisition  after  false 


204  ON  THE  DEATH  OF  HARRISON. 

motives,  this  fratricidal  rending  of  heart  from  heart,  because 
our  mental  vision  is  not  the  same  —  this  exiling  of  the  honor- 
able from  the  honorable,  because  they  have  not  the  same  sibi- 
lation  in  their  Shibboleth  —  this  Avaste  of  wealth  of  mental 
power  and  untiring  zeal,  which  our  country  and  our  whole 
country  should  enjoy  —  when  shall  it  cease  ?  Must  it  be  per- 
petual ?  I  know  that  the  words  of  a  poor  preacher  are  weak 
against  this  strong  and  vast  spreading  evil ;  but  as  I  love  my 
country,  and  God  knows  I  love  her  from  my  inmost  heart, 
and  never  more  than  in  this  hour  of  her  sorrow,  I  must  speak. 
I  cannot  believe  that  I  have  a  right  to  hate  and  despise  my 
brother  because  he  reads  another  book  than  my  own,  or  that 
he  should  hate  and  despise  me,  because  conviction  forces  me 
to  cling  to  mine. 

How  STRIKING  IS  THIS  PROOF  OF  OUR  DEPENDENCE  UP- 
ON God! 

A  vast  number  of  our  people  were  looking  up  to  him,  who 
is  gone,  as  a  saviour  and  deliverer  from  the  pressure  of  heavy 
national  distresses.  Their  confidence  in  his  honest  purpose  to 
do  all  that  untiring  zeal  could  do  to  achieve  such  a  result, 
was,  I  firmly  believe,  not  misplaced.  What  would  have  been 
the  efiiciency  of  the  means  employed,  it  would  be  going  be- 
yond permitted  limits  for  me  to  hazard  an  open  conjecture. 
I  fear,  however,  that  the  cause  and  the  cure  of  our  troubles 
lie  deeper  than  the  ability  of  any  administration,  however 
able  or  patriotic,  to  reach.  No  government  can  save  us,  ex- 
cept we  be  true  to  ourselves  in  frugahty,  hard  labor,  and  ster- 
ling morality.  I  speak  not  as  a  politician,  but  as  a  teacher  of 
that  Word  which  keeps  the  record  —  "  In  the  sweat  of  thy 


ON    THE    DEATH    OF    HARRISON.  205 

face  thou  shalt  eat  bread ;"  and,  "  he  who  hasteth  to  be  rich 
hath  an  evil  eye,  and  considereth  not  that  poverty  shall  come 
upon  him ;"  and  yet  again,  "  the  borrower  shall  be  servant  to 
the  lender."  But,  certainly,  there  was  large  expectation  and 
enthusiastic  hope  in  the  skill  and  faithfulness  of  him,  for 
whose  sudden  and  melancholy  loss  we  wear  these  badges  of 
mourning.  Your  own  hearts  will  tell  you,  whether,  with  such 
expectations  from  the  distinguished  instrument,  there  was 
mingled  sufficient  trust  in  Him,  who  is  Sovereign  over  all, 
and  without  whose  blessing  all  the  wit  of  man  must  fail.  If 
there  hath  been  an  idolatry  of  the  creature,  God  hath  vindi- 
cated his  own  right  to  be  our  confidence  and  our  stay.  How 
in  a  moment,  when  we  least  thought  of  it,  has  he  dashed  many 
hopes  in  pieces !  He  gave  his  messenger  the  warrant,  and  a 
nation's  prayers  and  tears  could  not  stay  the  determined  blow. 
The  work  was  as  surely  done  beneath  the  proud  roof  of  a  na- 
tion's love,  as  within  the  humble  cabin  on  the  far  western  bor- 
der. We  are  in  the  hand  of  God,  our  lives,  our  fortunes,  our 
rulers.  We  are  in  the  hand  of  God.  O  let  us  cast  ourselves 
humbly  upon  his  promise,  and  seek  his  favor  through  Jesus 
Christ  his  Son,  that  the  hand  of  God  may  be  the  hand  of  a 
Father,  who  blesses  while  He  chastens. 

How  SOLEMN  IS  THE  VTARNING-  FOR  US  ALL  TO  PREPARE 
TO  MEET  OUR  GOD  I 

It  has  been  idly  said,  that  "  Death  loves  a  shining  mark." 
He  is  indeed  busy  with  the  great,  but  not  less  busy  with  the 
obscure  and  mean.  "The  insatiate  archer"  has  an  arrow  for 
each  of  us.  "  To  the  same  complexion  we  must  come  at  last." 
"The  like  event  happeneth  to  us  all."     He  has  occasions 

18 


206  ON  THE  DEATH  OF  HARRISON. 

which  are  more  remarkable,  and  rarely,  indeed  never  in  this 
land,  has  he  struck  such  terror  by  a  single  shaft  as  now.  We 
looked  not  for  his  coming  to  that  honored  threshold,  now  over- 
hung with  the  melancholy  signs  of  his  dark  presence.  The 
old  soldier,  it  was  fondly  thought,  had  won  new  vigor  from 
the  people's  blessing ;  — 

For  yet  his  lusty  age  seemed  fresh  and  green, 
His  hoary  head  nobly  erect  was  seen, 
Nor  needed  he  on  stronger  staff  to  lean.* 

But  he  is  gone.  Death's  next  message  may  be  to  me,  to  you. 
Are  we  ready  ?  O  my  hearer,  let  us  not  amuse  ourselves 
with  dreamy  imaginings.  The  change  is  awful  from  time  to 
eternity.  It  is  as  awful  to  meet  the  summons  on  our  humble 
beds,  as  though  we  were  canopied  with  purple;  alone,  as 
though  surrounded  by  groups  of  pale  friends.  We  know  not 
when  he  may  come,  but  when  he  doth  meet  us,  it  is  to  bring 
us  suddenly  before  our  God.  While  the  Chief  Magistrate 
lay  in  the  agonies  of  death,  with  a  nation  weeping  around  him, 
how  many,  of  whom  the  world  knew  little,  were  in  the  same 
dread  article  ?  As  they  passed  the  mysterious  gate  the  ine- 
qualities of  earth  were  left  behind.  One  moment  beyond  this 
life,  and  it  will  avail  us  nothing  whether  we  may  have  been 
rich  or  poor,  honored  or  unknown.  Our  eternity  shall  be  be- 
gun, an  eternity  of  changeless  blessedness,  or  of  changeless 
wo.    If  we  be  lost,  who  can  sufl&ciently  deplore  the  amazing 

*  Dum  nova  canities,  dum  prima  et  recta  senectus, 
Dum  superest  Lachesi  quod  torqueat  et  pedibus  me 
Porto  meis,  nullo  dextram  subeunte  bacillo. 

Juv.  Sat.  III.  26,  7,  8. 


ON   THE   BEATH   OF  HARRISON.  207 

ruin  ?  and,  as  we  look  back  on  life,  how  poor  will  the  whole 
world  appear  to  have  been,  compared  with  the  undying  an- 
guish of  the  soul  ?  If  we  be  saved,  who  can  estimate  the 
weight  of  glory  God  shall  bestow  upon  our  immortal  spirits  ? 
and,  as  we  look  back  on  life,  how  light  will  the  utmost  suffer- 
ing here  appear  to  have  been,  compared  with  eternal  raptures 
before  the  face  of  God  ?  Is  it  wise  then  to  run  such  a  despe- 
rate risk  as  this  ?  Is  it  rational  to  abuse  a  very  small  part  of 
our  being,  and  so  render  all  the  future  miserable  ?  Ought  we 
not  rather  to  prepare  ourselves  for  our  tremendous  trial,  and 
prepare  at  once,  that  whether  death  come  upon  us  at  noon  or 
evening,  at  midnight  or  at  dawn,  he  may  find  us  watching  ? 

How  IMPORTANT,  THEREFORE,  THAT  WE  CHOOSE  AND 
FOLLOW  THE  RELIGION  OF  OUR  LORD  JeSUS  ChRIST  ! 

With  what  interest  was  the  inquiry  made,  whether  our 
venerable  President  died  a  Christian  ?  and  that,  not  by  Chris- 
tians only,  but  men  who  are  but  too  indifferent  to  their  own 
religious  safety !  What  horror  would  have  been  added  to 
our  present  gloom,  if  indeed  he  had  died  and  "left  no  sign" 
of  trust  in  the  cross  ?  What  unspeakable  consolation  to  hear 
so  many  cheering  testimonies,  that  he  was  prepared  to  take 
up  his  cross  and  follow  Christ  in  the  open  walk  of  a  Christian 
profession?  Wherefore  is  this  anxiety  about  his  religious 
character,  but  because  a  hope  on  the  promise  of  Christ  was, 
after  all  that  could  be  heaped  upon  him  by  admiring  millions, 
the  only  treasure,  dignity  and  delight,  he  could  carry  with 
him  into  the  eternal  world.  Better  the  lisping  child  that  loves 
Jesus,  the  very  least  in  the  kingdom  of  God,  than  the  might- 
iest of  the  sons  of  men  without  such  faith ! 


208  ON   THE   DEATH    OF   HARRISON. 

Come  with  me,  my  hearers,  who  are  accustomed  to  enter 
carelessly  the  house  of  God  and  listen  with  easy  indifference 
to  the  words  of  the  preacher,  as  though  they  reached  not  the 
pride  of  your  position,  nor  suited  the  range  of  your  thoughts  ; 
let  me  take  you  with  me  to  the  death  chamber  of  him  we 
now  mourn.  Pale  and  worn,  the  hero,  whom  his  country  de- 
lighted to  honor,  lies  upon  his  fevei'ed  bed.  The  statesmen 
whom  he  had  called  to  assist  him  in  the  toils  of  government 
are  watching  around  him  with  tearful  eyes,  but  it  is  not  upon 
their  faces  he  looks  with  the  most  earnest  interest.  The  cares 
they  shared  with  him  are  past.  Only  one  sentence  more 
shall  prove  his  love  of  country  strong  in  death.  But  he  looks 
for  the  meek  countenance  of  the  minister  of  God.  His  words 
are  the  accents  which  the  dying  man  wishes  to  hear,  and  he 
seeks  to  follow  the  simple  prayer  that  is  breathed  by  his  side ; 
the  book  which  has  just  fallen  from  his  failing  hand,  is  the 
volume  which  tells  of  "  Christ  the  Resurrection  and  the  Life, 
in  whom  if  a  man  believe,  though  he  die,  yet  shall  he  live." 
That  Word  is  the  only  lamp  that  gleams  through  the  valley 
of  the  shadow  of  death,  whose  gloom  is  already  upon  him. 
Another  moment  —  and  the  spirit  hath  passed. 

Tell  me  now,  doth  not  the  cross  put  to  shame  all  honors 
else  ?  Is  there  not  a  dignity  in  the  hope  of  the  Gospel  above 
all  other  pride  ?  a  victory  in  its  power  above  all  the  boasts  of 
valor?  There  is  no  immortality  beside.  O  then  let  that 
death  scene  preach  to  you  and  to  us  all,  that,  laying  aside 
every  meaner  pursuit,  we  may  seek  first  the  kingdom  of  God 
and  his  righteousness ! 

Even  so  grant,  Lord  Jesus.     Amen. 


THE  ELOQUENCE  OF  THE  PULPIT,  WITH  ILLUSTRATIONS 
FROM  THE  APOSTLE  PAUL. 


AN    ORATION 


BEFOBE    THE 


PORTER  RHETORICAL  SOCIETY, 


THEOLOGICAL  SEMINAKY  AT  ANDOVEE,  MASS., 


SEPTEMBER,  1842. 


(published  by  KEQTTEST.) 


18* 


ORATION 


Gentlemen 

Of  the  Porter  Ehetorical  Society. 

I  have  been  in  doubt,  whether  it  would  not  be  more  easy 
to  decline  your  repeated  request,  than  to  perform  what  you 
ask  in  a  manner  to  please  you.  But  the  honor  you  do  one, 
who  has  few  claims  to  your  regard,  by  making  him  your  ora- 
tor upon  an  occasion  so  interesting  as  this  anniversary,  and 
upon  a  subject  so  important  as  that  which  your  name  sug- 
gests, warrants  me  in  hoping  to  receive  more  favor  from  the 
kindness  of  your  judgment  than  from  my  own. 

The  aim  of  your  society  is,  The  cuUwation  of  eloquence  in 
the  pulpit ;  this,  using  the  term  eloquence  in  its  largest  mean- 
ing, is  also  the  purpose  of  my  address. 

It  is  an  undertaking,  which,  but  for  the  pleasure  of  serving 
you,  one  would  wish  to  avoid.  For,  besides  the  difficulty  of 
understanding  the  subject  in  its  full  extent,  much  more  of 
treating  it  as  it  deserves,  he,  who  discourses  to  others  upon 
eloquence,  has  this  great  disadvantage,  that  he  stands  before 
them  in  the  attitude  and  action  of  an  orator,  and  is  liable  to 
be  tried  by  his  own  rules,  and  measured  by  his  own  decis- 
ions.   There  seems  to  be  a  justice  demanding  that  he  should 


212  ELOQUENCE    OP   THE   PULPIT. 

himself  be  an  example  of  the  art  he  advocates,  and  by  the 
very  manner  of  his  teaching  give  illustration  of  what  he 
recommends.  But,  as  in  expounding  Christian  morals  we 
present  a  far  higher  standard  than  that  we  have  attained  unto, 
and,  as  preachers  hope  that  the  people  will  follow  our  instruc- 
tions rather  than  ourselves  ;  so,  if  by  contributing  the  results 
of  a  little  experience,  and  some  study  of  the  best  masters 
who  have  written  upon  the  science  of  public  speaking,  I  can 
assist  in  discovering  methods  by  which  you  may  hope,  with  a 
divine  blessing,  to  reach  eminent  usefulness,  you  will  thank 
me  as  one  who,  not  being  able  to  walk  before  you  as  a  guide, 
has  done  what  he  could  to  point  onward  with  his  finger  the 
direction  which  you  should  take. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  speak  of  the  value  of  eloquence  be- 
fore students  who  have  been  exercising  themselves  in  pursuits 
like  yours,  and  who,  looking  forward  to  the  highest  office 
God  allows  to  man,  are  trained  for  their  work  by  the  counsels 
and  lives  of  masters  venerable  because  of  their  learning, 
intellect,  and  pious  zeal.  Were  it  required,  the  best  names 
of  antiquity  might  be  cited  to  prove  the  orator's  power  over 
the  good  or  evil  fortunes  of  men,  and  strong  instances  given  of 
states  whose  destinies  were  wielded  by  the  speech,  the  eye,  the 
gesture  of  those  who  had  the  genius  and  the  educated  skill 
to  cahn,  to  move,  to  concentrate  and  direct  the  passions  and 
energies  of  a  whole  people  as  though  they  were  but  one  man. 
The  fleets  of  Attica  were  mighty,  the  valor  of  her  troops  un- 
conquerable, her  allies  many  and  powerful,  her  Opisthodome 
filled  to  overflowing  with  spoil  and  tribute  and  the  treasure 
of  confederate  Greece  ;  but  there  stood  within  the  Pnyx,  on 


ELOQUENCE    OF   THE    PULPIT.  213 

the  west  of  her  Acropohs,  a  pedestal  hewn  from  the  living 
rock,  from  which  went  forth  an  influence  that  ruled  all,  and 
wrought  up  her  fierce  democracy  to  deeds  of  conquest,  glori- 
ous resistance  or  suicidal  faction.  It  was  the  Bema  or  pulpit 
of  the  orator,  before  which  the  people  bowed  to  the  elegant 
dictation  of  the  Olympian  Pericles,  yielded  themselves  captive 
at  the  will  of  the  subtle  Lysias,  laughed  with  the  witty  Hy- 
perides,  stood  charmed  and  dazzled  by  the  splendid  diction 
of  -^schines,  or  were  borne  aM'ay  in  the  torrent  argument  of 
him  who  fled  from  the  fight  at  Cheronaea,  yet  baffled  Mace- 
don. 

As  eloquence  was  the  master  spirit  of  Athens,  so  it  was  of 
Rome.  It  was  not  the  fate  of  Lucretia,  but  the  gesture  of 
Brutus  waving  abroad  her  bloody  knife,  and  his  long  hidden 
soul  bursting  forth  in  terrible  denunciation,  that  drove  the 
Tarquin  out,  overthi-ew  the  throne,  and  established  the  Re- 
public. It  was  a  father's  cries  and  prayers  for  vengeance, 
as  he  rushed  from  the  dead  body  of  Virginia,  appealing  to 
his  countrymen,  that  roused  the  legions  of  the  Tusculan  camp 
to  seize  upon  the  Sacred  Mount,  and  achieve  another  free- 
dom. And  when  the  Roman  empire  was  the  world,  and 
trophies  from  every  people  hung  in  her  capitol,  whether  in 
the  senate  or  the  comitia,  the  orator  shook  oracles  of  the  fate 
of  nations  from  the  folds  of  his  mantle.  Freedom  in  this,  as 
in  the  former  state,  fell  with  the  free  exercise  of  eloquence. 
When  the  orator's  lips  were  sealed  by  fear,  or  opened  for  the 
panegyric  of  power,  liberty  was  at  an  end.  The  fatal  blow 
to  Roman  greatness  was  that  which  smote  off  the  head  of 
Tally  on  the  shore  of  Caieta.     Alas  for  that  tongue,  mangled 


214  ELOQUENCE    OF   THE   PULPIT. 

in  revengeful  outrage,  which,  living,  discoursed  philosophic 
truth  so  sweetly,  or  proclaimed  so  loftily  arguments  of  justice  ! 
Even  beneath  this  Christian  roof  what  scholar  that  deserves 
the  name,  but,  grateful  for  very  many  hours  of  profitable 
delight  spent  in  study  of  his  noble  volumes,  will  give  a  sigh 
for  the  sad  fate  of  the  martyr  patriot,  the  man  whose  dignity 
was  friendship,  the  orator  who  yet  teaches  a  world,  and  the 
sage  who  joined  to  the  morals  of  the  Porch,  the  immortal 
longings  of  a  Platonist  Avith  the  grace  of  an  Epicurean  ? 

A  far  higher  and  more  appropriate  testimony  is  found  in 
the  Holy  Book.  He,  who  by  inspiration  called  the  tongue 
"  the  glory  of  our  frame ;"  and  he,  who  by  the  same  spirit 
pronounced  it  to  be  "  an  unruly  evil  full  of  deadly  poison  ;" 
declare  to  us  in  words  which  cannot  lie,  what  strength 
speech  has  for  our  advantage  or  ruin.  That  which  God 
gave  to  be  the  vehicle  of  thought,  affection,  persuasion,  en- 
treaty, and  command,  whether  sanctified  from  heaven,  or 
"  set  on  fire  of  hell,"  must  be  of  mighty  influences.  The 
highest  oflScial  designation  of  the  Son  of  God  is  the  Eternal 
Word.  In  fulfilment  of  his  purpose  to  manifest  the  God- 
head's glory  to  the  world,  he  breathed  upon  the  souls,  and 
kindled  the  lips  of  his  prophets  with  burning  words,  that  they 
might  speak  for  him  unto  the  people  with  a  majesty,  beauty, 
sublimity,  pathos  and  power,  worthy  the  messengers  of  the 
Most  High.  He  came  himself  a  preacher  of  righteousness 
and  deliverance,  making  known  the  truth  of  his  law  and  the 
grace  of  his  gospel  by  the  teachings  of  a  human  tongue 
in  human  language,  with  an  eloquence  grand,  simple  and 
tender,  such   as  never   man  hath  approached  unto.     And 


ELOQUENCE    OF  THE   PULPIT.  215 

when  the  time  was  come  that  "  He  should  be  received  up," 
He  committed  the  truth  of  his  salvation  to  human  preachers, 
upon  whose  heads  he  sent  down,  at  the  Pentecost,  cloven 
tongues,  like  as  of  fire,  at  once  to  assure  the  gift,  and  assert 
the  value,  of  a  various  and  glowing  eloquence  in  the  work  to 
which  they  were  commanded.  The  pen,  which  is  but  another 
instrument  of  speech,  has  not  been  unblessed ;  and  the  vast 
energies  of  the  press  have  been  added  to  the  resources  of  the 
church ;  yet  still  it  pleaseth  Him,  who  "  hath  abounded  to- 
ward us  in  aU  wisdom  and  prudence,"  by  "  the  foolishness  of 
preaching  to  save  them  that  believe."  It  is  the  instructive 
ordinance  of  God  that  the  most  successful  manifestation  of  his 
truth  should  be  made  by  man  to  man,  by  the  speech  of  man, 
the  eye  of  man,  the  gesture  of  man,  the  soul  of  man  shedding 
its  mysterious  magnetism  forth,  and  compelling  sympathy 
and  conviction  by  an  actual  and  manifest  sympathy  with 
human  sorrows,  infirmities  and  need.  Nay,  lest  it  might  be 
thought  that  even  divine  inspiration  rendered  unnecessary 
the  preacher's  care  to  do  his  work  in  the  best  manner,  he 
chose,  for  his  chiefest  apostle,  the  great  preacher  to  the  Gen- 
tiles, one  trained  in  all  the  dialectics  of  the  schools,  conver- 
sant with  the  best  masters  of  style,  not  unacquainted  with 
the  manners  and  opinions  of  the  world,  and  replete  with  all 
the  skill  and  habitudes  of  an  accomplished  orator.  This,  his 
own  example,  the  Apostle  Paul  insists  upon  our  following  so 
far  as  we  can,  when  he  enjoins  upon  the  evangelist,  who 
would  be  faithful,  to  employ  himself  in  study,  and  declares 
that  no  one  should  be  a  bishop,  whatever  his  moral  qualifica- 
tions may  be,  except  he  be  also  "  apt  to  teach." 


216  ELOQUENCE    OF   THE   PULPIT. 

No  where  can  eloquence  be  so  valuable  as  in  tbe  pulpit,  if 
soundness  in  the  most  important  doctrines,  and  righteousness 
in  the  most  important  duties,  be  better  than  heresy  and  crime, 
which  are  always  active,  and  must  often  prevail  should  a 
sanctified  rhetoric  be  wanting  to  expose  and  condemn  them.* 
The  preacher's  aim  is  nothing  less  than  the  salvation  of  im- 
mortal souls  for  the  glory  of  God,  and  since  God  has  made 
preaching  a  means  of  salvation,  it  cannot  be  otherwise  than 
that  our  success  will  depend  in  no  small  measure  upon  the 
manner  in  which  we  preach.  If  men  are  to  be  converted 
through  the  truth,  how  are  they  to  receive  the  truth  from  us, 
except  our  definitions  be  exact,  our  thoughts  weU  arranged, 
our  argument  clear,  our  illustrations  pertinent,  our  language 
true  to  our  meaning,  our  enunciation  distinct,  and  our  empha- 
sis discriminating?  A  mistake  or  defect  in  either  of  these, 
might  make  us  preachers  of  error,  and  the  occasion  of  ruin  to 
immortal  souls.  Since,  also,  men  are  naturally  averse  to  hear 
the  truth,  and  prone  to  cavil  when  they  have  the  shadow  of 
an  excuse,  and  their  characters  and  mental  conditions  are  so 
widely  various,  how  essential  to  our  success  is  it,  that  those 
characters  and  conditions  be  studied,  and  our  discourses,  both 
as  to  composition  and  delivery,  adapted  to  win  and  keep  their 
attention ;  and,  especially,  so  that  on  the  one  hand  the  plainer 
people  may  not  be  confounded  by  a  style  above  their  compre- 
hension, or  on  the  other  the  refined  be  not  disgusted  by  coarse 
and  unnecessary  breaches  of  taste.  It  is  wrong  for  hearers  of 
the  gospel  to  stumble  over  trifles  in  the  preacher's  manner, 
but,  since  they  will  do  it,  it  is  wrong  for  us  to  spare  any  pains 

*  Xphai/io;  ds  eaTiv  7/  peropiK),  k.  t.  X.     Arist.  Rhet.  I.  1. 


ELOQUENCE    OF    THE   PULPIT.  217 

in  taking  the  scandal  out  of  their  way.  Our  purpose  is  to 
persuade  men,  but  that  we  must  fail  in,  except  we  be  listened 
to  and  understood. 

It  is  easy  to  tell  what  kind  of  a  speaker  is  in  the  pulpit  by 
observing  his  auditory.     If  they  sit  listless,  lounging  unconcern- 
ed, or  looking  carelessly  around,  however  good  a  man  he  may 
be,  he  is  a  poor  preacher ;  but,  if  they  bend  their  eyes  intent- 
ly upon  his  countenance,  listening  lU  avis  eantu  aliquo^  or 
their  cheeks  be  flushed,  their  tears  starting,  or  their  hands 
clenched,  and  there  is  a   hush  over  all,   so   that  his  lowest 
whisper  is  heard  in  every  part,  he  must  be  eloquent.     For 
although  it  is  a  fashion  to  sneer  at  popular  preachers,  and  to 
wonder  what  it  is  that  attracts  the  people,  where  we  can  see 
no  learned  depth  nor  keen  metaphysics,  we  may  be  sure  that 
no  man  ever  won  the  public  ear  without  some  striking  quality ; 
and,  as  in  the  pulpit,  we  are  not  mere  critics  or  metaphysicians, 
it  would  be  far  better  to  search  out  and  emulate  than  to  despise 
his  power  of  securing  the  attention  of  his  hearers.     That  very 
thing,  which  we  cannot  at  first  see,  is  the  secret  of  his  influ- 
ence.    We  read  little  to  admire  in  Whitfield's  Sermons,  in 
Summerfield's  less,  though  we  know  that  both  of  them  were 
men  of  various  talents,  as  well  as  most  successful  preachers ; 
but  what  seems  only  a  common-place,  as  given  on  the  quiet 
page,  was  full  of  energy  and  beauty  when  illustrated  by  their 
skilful  enunciation,  the  play  of  their  features,  and  the  aptness 
of  their  gesture.     No  small  part  of  their  eflBciency,  lay  in 
making  thoughts,  familiar  and  comprehensible,  attractive  and 
forcible  by  the  talent  of  their  delivery ;  and  what  preacher 

*  Cic.  de  Clar.  Orator.  54.  vid.  loc. 
19 


218  ELOQUENCE    OF  THE   PULPIT. 

when  speaking  to  his  people  would  exchange  such  a  talent  for 
a  head  like  a  lexicon  or  an  index  of  philosophical  specula- 
tions ? 

It  is  remarkable  that  there  are  so  few  eloquent  preachers, 
rarely  more  than  one  or  two  in  an  age.  Yet  there  is  much 
study  preparatory  to  the  pulpit,  under  zealous  professors,  and 
with  frequent  indications  of  latent  genius.  To  what  shall  we 
attribute  this?  As  Cicero  does,  to  the  wonderful  diflBculty 
and  extent  of  eloquence  ?  Or,  to  the  little,  or  ill-directed 
pains  for  accomplishing  ourselves  in  this  part  of  our  sacred 
duty?  It  is,  indeed,  true,  that  to  be  a  perfect  orator,  one 
should  possess  many  natural  advantages  and  acquired  arts, 
an  acquaintance  with  every  science,  but  especially  with  his- 
tory and  human  nature,  together  with  the  graceful  courtesy 
of  a  gentleman  and  the  dignity  of  honest  aims  ;  yet  there  is 
no  good  reason  why  many,  who  now  fail  miserably,  might  not 
have  won  their  way  to  some  degree  of  excellence  if  not  to 
perfection.  If  what  Plutarch  tells  us  of  the  oft-cited  example 
of  Demosthenes  be  true,  an  orator  may  be  made  from  most 
unpromising  material,  if  he  have  but  zeal  to  excel,  and  good 
sense  to  guide  him  in  the  endeavor.  How  small  a  portion  of 
time  is  given  in  our  theological  halls  to  this  most  useful  ac- 
complishment, you  are  but  too  well  aware ;  and  often  after  we 
enter  upon  the  actual  exercise  of  our  office,  the  multiplicity  of 
duties  laid  upon  the  minister  by  the  superscriptural  inventions 
of  modem  times,  leaves  us  little  time  to  plan  and  write  our 
sermons,  much  less  to  consider  how  they  should  be  delivered. 
Notwithstanding  all,  by  a  due  industry  a  habit  of  happy 
rhetoric  might  be  acquired,  which  would  come  readily  into  use 


ELOQUENCE    OP   THE    PULPIT.  219 

at  the  moment  it  is  needed.  It  is  most  unworthy  a  scholar, 
far  more  of  a  Christian,  and  an  advocate  of  divine  truth,  to 
allow  difficulty  of  any  kind  to  stand  in  the  way  of  usefulness. 
Preaching  is  not  study  in  a  quiet  room,  nor  is  it  philosophy, 
nor  orthodox  preciseness,  nor  sacred  learning  in  particles  or 
idioms,  necessary  as  these  may  be  to  our  work.  It  is  the 
earnest,  anxious,  forcible  exhibition  of  saving  truth  by  the 
living  voice,  from  a  living  soul,  to  living  men,  who  not  only 
think,  but  hear,  see,  and  feel.  Without  this  we  are  not 
preachers. 

The  preacher,  it  is  true,  must  not  always  be  expected  to  be 
eloquent  in  the  full  sense  of  the  term.  Men,  destitute  of  rheto- 
ric, may  be  and  have  been  of  great  use  in  the  pulpit  from  other 
valuable  qualifications.  There  are  those  whose  attenuated 
length  of  limb  and  angularity  of  frame,  no  Calisthenist  could 
ever  drill  into  grace ;  whose  voices  are  too  harsh  and  unpliant, 
or  their  musical  sense  too  dull  ever  to  acquire  a  pleasing  modu- 
lation ;  upon  whose  arid  brain  the  dews  of  fancy  never  fall, 
and  the  thoughts  which  grow  in  it  are  like  certain  esculents 
without  bud,  or  blossom,  or  leaf —  naked,  knotty,  gnarled,  and 
unseemly.  Yet  even  these,  if  they  cannot  be  graceful,  may 
become  less  awkard ;  if  they  cannot  be  musical  in  utterance, 
they  need  not  screech  nor  mumble ;  or  if  they  have  no  fancy, 
they  may  cease  to  be  grotesque  by  absurd  imitations  of  it. 
There  are,  no  doubt,  those  who  are  gifted  with  a  natural  elo- 
quence. The  maxim :  "  Poeta  nascitur,  orator  fit,"  is  not  true 
of  the  one  or  the  other,  except  it  be  taken  with  great  modifica- 
tion ;  for  without  native  genius  no  one  can  be  either,  and  with- 
out good  rules  and  much  practice  no  one,  whatever  his  genius 


220  ELOQUENCE    OF   THE   PULPIT. 

may  be,  can  ever  be  great  in  poetry  or  eloquence.  The  best 
orators,  whether  ancient  or  modern,  when  carefully  studied, 
are  seen  to  have  guided  themselves  so  successfully  by  art  as 
to  conceal  it  from  the  mass ;  and  many  of  them,  as  you  know, 
have  written  treatises  upon  the  subject,  proving  their  intense 
search  after  the  means  of  persuasion.  To  think,  then,  that 
eloquence  is  not  to  be  improved  because  it  is  natural,  or  to  be 
despaired  of  when  it  is  not,  would  be  to  reject  the  best  experi- 
ence. The  feeble  vine  may  be  nurtured  into  strength,  the 
luxuriant  must  be  severely  pruned  into  greater  fruitfulness. 
Demosthenes  was  trained  under  Isseus  the  Chalcidian,  and 
Cicero  under  Molo  of  Rhodes,  learning  from  their  masters  to 
excel  them.  If  eloquence  be  a  talent,  we  ought  to  cultivate 
it  fi'om  a  holy  covetousness  of  the  best  gifts  ;  and  only  in  so 
doing  may  we  expect  that  grace  which  God  has  promised  to 
the  diligent  and  the  humble.  Certainly,  in  looking  forward 
to  our  great  work,  no  zeal  of  preparation  can  be  excessive  ; 
and  if  our  natural  powers  or  early  education  be  deficient,  we 
should  strive  our  utmost  to  improve  the  ability  that  we  have. 
If  we  cannot  be  eminent,  it  is  honorable  not  to  be  insignificant. 
The  unprofitable  servant  was  punished,  not  because  he  had 
only  a  single  talent,  but  because  he  buried  that  one  in  the 
earth ;  and  the  highest  praise  ever  pronounced  upon  mortal, 
was  our  Saviour's  encomium  of  Mary :  "  She  hath  done  what 
she  could." 

There  are  also  occasions  and  subjects  which  require  ab- 
stinence from  many  usual  characteristics  of  eloquence,  when, 
so  far  as  is  consistent  with  th«  dignity  and  affectionateness  of 
the  pulpit,  our  manner  should  be  simple  and  severe,  and  the 


ELOQUENCE   OF  THE   PULPIT.  221 

truth  stated  in  a  didactic  form,  without  ornament,  figure,  or 
gesture,  except  it  be  very  slight  and  easy,  lest  the  attention  of 
the  people  be  diverted  from  the  fact,  doctrine,  or  duty  brought 
before  them.  Yet  it  is,  perhaps,  the  most  difficult  art  of  the 
preacher  to  give  a  thought  such  clearness,  purity,  and  distinct- 
ness, as  to  make  it  our  consideration  without  any  suppedita- 
ments.  It  is  eloquence  of  a  very  high  and  rare  order,  always 
impressive,  often  pathetic,  sometimes  sublime.  In  fact,  it  is 
one  of  the  chief  excellencies  of  the  scripture  which  compel  us 
to  believe  that  the  Bible  is  the  word  of  God.  You  have  in- 
stances of  it  in  the  Proverbs  of  Solomon,  the  former  part  of 
the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  and  frequently  in  sacred  narrative, 
as  that  of  the  creation,  the  life  of  our  blessed  Lord,  and  ac- 
counts of  his  miracles.  Those,  therefore,  who  affect  great 
simplicity,  are  much  in  error,  if  they  think  that  they  do  not 
need  greater  study  for  that  reason. 

The  kinds  of  eloquence  are  various,  and  adapted  to  differ- 
ent orders  of  talent,  as  well  as  the  various  themes  on  which 
we  are  called  to  discourse. 

There  is  a  grand  and  lofty  eloquence  which  prevails  by  a 
majestic  energy,  and  awes  the  passions  to  its  sway. 

There  is,  again,  a  smooth  and  gentle  style,  which,  dexte- 
rously acute,  wins  upon  us  before  ever  we  are  aware,  and 
holds  us  captive  without  our  being  sensible  that  we  are  no 
longer  free. 

And  there  is  a  strong,  direct  mode  of  attack,  by  which  some? 
who  have  neither  great  elevation  nor  flow,  beat  us  down  at 
their  feet  by  main  force  and  determination. 

Either  of  these  is  valuable  ;  and,  perhaps,  we  should  seek 
19* 


222  ELOQUENCE    OF   THE   PULPIT. 

to  excel  in  that  for  which  our  peculiar  character  of  mind  best 
fits  us,  but  certainly  not  to  an  exclusion  of  the  others.  For 
variety  of  manner  is  most  necessary  to  an  orator  who  appears 
so  often  before  the  same  people,  and  asks  their  attention  to 
the  same  truths  in  various  forms.  They  soon  come  to  know 
our  only  method  of  address,  and  meet  us  accoi'dingly.  Be- 
sides which,  there  are  times,  even  in  the  same  discourse,  when 
our  thoughts  require  a  complete  change  of  manner,  when  lof- 
tiness would  be  pomposity,  moderation  weakness,  or  mere 
strength  imprudent  dictation.  "Were  we  to  form  for  our  pat- 
tern the  ideal  of  a  perfect  orator,  he  should  combine  all  these, 
and  be  ready  to  use  either  as  he  saw  that  it  pz'omised  better 
results. 

A  sure  way  to  learn  how  to  excel,  is  by  analysis  of  the 
causes  of  success  in  those  who  have  been,  without  question, 
successful  in  their  practice  of  eloquence.* 

The  best  master  of  the  artf  sets  forth  Demosthenes  as  the 
highest  example  of  an  eloquent  orator  the  world  had  then 
produced ;  a  distinction  to  which  he  was  entitled  over  his  Ro- 
man rival,  as  much  from  the  language  and  circumstances  in 
which  he  spoke,  as  from  his  genius ;  for  the  structure  and  ter- 
minations of  the  Latin  are  as  inferior  to  the  Greek,  as  the 
Assembly  of  Athens  was  a  better  sphere  than  the  Senate 
House  or  the  Forum.  We,  as  Christian  preachers,  have  also 
a  great  model  in  one,  not  sinless  and  divine  like  "  the  Great 
High  Priest  of  our  profession,"  but  brought  nearer  to  us  by 

*  Aris.  Ehet.  I,  1 .  See  also  Stewart's  Preliminary  Dissertation  to  his 
Philos.  Essays.  t  Cicero. 


ELOQUENCE   OP   THE   PULPIT.  223 

the  same  natural  infirmities  and  corruption  with  ourselves. 
We  cannot  speak  as  Jesus  did,  (all  glory  be  to  his  holy 
Name  !)  for  he  was  the  Author  and  Giver  of  rest,  declaring 
oracles  from  the  Divinity  within  his  human  bosom ;  but  we 
can  point  to  Him,  and  plead  for  Him,  and  glorify  His  grace 
in  humble  imitation  of  our  apostle  Paul,  himself  a  sinner  saved 
by  the  same  gospel,  and  sustained  by  the  same  Spirit  he  pro- 
claimed to  others. 

In  taking  the  apostle  Paul  as  a  model  of  Christian  elo- 
quence, we  are  struck  by  a  resemblance  in  many  respects  be- 
tween him  and  the  mighty  Athenian.*  We  see  in  them  both 
unusual  physical  defects  ovei'come  by  zeal ;  the  same  fulness 
of  thought,  energy  of  language,  and  vehemence  of  manner ; 
the  same  concealment  of  skilful  order ;  the  same  insurgent  pa- 
rentheses ;  the  same  dramatic  use  of  dialogue,  exclamation, 
and  apostrophe ;  the  same  Socratic  pith  of  the  sudden  ques- 
tion ;  the  same  noble  choice  of  images  and  use  of  figures ;  the 
same  high  consciousness  of  power ;  the  same  directness  of  attack, 
not  upon  the  reason  only,  but  through  the  mind  upon  the 
heart.  If  the  apostle  be  at  times  more  diffuse,  it  is  because  the 
must  instruct,  explain,  and  guard  against  misconstruction,  while 
the  only  aim  of  the  orator  is  to  convince  and  move.  That 
enlarging  of  his  thought,  that  gathering  up  as  he  rushes  on, 
without  losing  his  speed,  golden  truths  seeming  at  first  to  bear 
but  indirectly  on  his  main  purpose,  yet  firmly  combined  with 
his  conclusion,  is  among  the  great  excellencies  of  the  Christian 
hierophant.  Well  does  he  prove  by  other  passages  that  he 
has  at  his  command  an  intense  brevity. 

*  See  Life  of  Longinus,  by  Smith,  Dean  of  Chester,  p.  32. 


224  ELOQUENCE    OF   THE   PULPIT. 

Nay,  though  here  the  Christian  is,  by  the  grace  of  God,  im- 
measurably superior,  they  are  not  unhke  in  their  moral  quali- 
ties of  honesty,  disdain  of  rhetorical  trick  and  sophistry  (which 
St.  Paul  means  by  "  words  of  man's  wisdom"),  desire  of  ac- 
complishing the  good  of  the  people,  and  lofty  faith  in  the  ten- 
dency of  their  principles  living  deep  and  strong  within  their 
souls. 

We  can  scarcely  avoid  believing  (and  I  know  not  why  we 
should,)  that  the  apostle  must  have  been  an  admiring  student 
of  the  orator,  such  parallelisms  do  we  find ;  as,  for  example, 
Paul's  vindication  of  his  state  and  manner  of  life,  against  the 
accusations  of  his  enemies  in  his  speech  before  Agrippa,  with 
the  opening  of  Demosthenes'  defence  against  the  slanders  of 
^schines,  in  the  Oration  on  the  Crown.  The  turn  of  thought 
is  precisely  the  same,  nor  is  the  language  wholly  unlike.  The 
eleventh  and  the  beginning  of  the  twelfth  chapter  of  the  He- 
brews,* is  a  most  successful  expansion  of  the  same  appeal  to 
ancestral  glory  and  example,  the  same  summoning  of  a  gi'eat 
cloud  of  martyrs,  that  is  made  in  the  famous  adjuration  by 
those  who  fell  at  Marathon,  at  Platsea,  at  Salamis  and  Arte- 
misium. 

But,  be  this  as  it  may,  we  see,  and  for  that  purpose  I  have 
drawn  the  comparison,  the  grand  elements  of  successful  elo- 
quence are  the  same  in  both  these  eminent  masters. 

It  may  be  thought  by  some  that  our  apostle  should  be  re- 
garded rather  as  a  writer  than  an  orator,  from  the  fewness  of 
his  recorded  speeches;  though  even  they  are  suflScient  to 
establish  his  right  to  the  name,  when  we  see  an  imperious 

*No  one  but  Paul  could  have  written  that  epistle,  whatever  Tholack 
may  say. 


ELOQUENCE    OP   THE   PULPIT.  225 

heathen  king  trembling  before  him,  a  luxurious  and  half 
apostate  king  almost  convinced,  and  a  whole  city  doing  him 
homage  as  the  God  of  speech.  But  we  do  not  confine  our- 
selves to  his  spoken  addresses.  His  epistles,  a  few  excepted, 
are  orations :  exordium,  argument,  inferences,  application,  and 
peroration.  It  is  the  soul  of  an  orator  dictating  to  the  scribe. 
He  seems  to  have  the  churches  before  him.  He  calls  to  them 
by  endearing  names,  he  appeals,  he  beseeches,  he  soothes,  he 
exclaims,  he  denounces,  he  weeps,  as  though  they  heard  and 
saw  him.  We  can  imagine  his  very  gestures  as  he  walked 
the  floor  of  his  prison  room,  and  his  young  secretary  inscribed 
with  rapid  pen  his  glowing  words.  Indeed  his  example  is  the 
more  useful  to  us,  who,  unaided  but  by  that  inspiration  which 
breathes  through  the  use  of  means,  dare  not  take  the  words  of 
God  rashly  into  our  mouths,  but  digest,  correct,  and  guard,  by 
prayer  and  pious  caution,  the  message  of  truth  we  are  to  carry 
before  dying  yet  immortal  men.  It  should  teach  us  not  to 
write  formal  essays  and  nice  disquisitions,  which  are  out  of 
place  in  the  pulpit,  cramp  and  degrade  our  oratory,  and  leave 
the  people  as  cold  as  the  paper  that  lies  upon  our  desks ;  but, 
if  we  must  compose  our  sermons  beforehand  (and  I  firmly  be- 
lieve that  is  due  to  the  church,  ourselves,  and  to  God,)  to  re- 
member that  we  are  writing  to  be  heard,  not  read,  and  com- 
pose as  though  we  were  already  in  the  pulpit,  and  looking 
upon  the  upturned  faces  of  the  congregation.  Could  we  learn 
this  lesson  from  Paul,  half  the  objection  to  written  sermons 
would  be  done  away.  Without  such  a  feeling  of  the  orator, 
we  do  not  preach ;  for  it  is  not  to  the  pen,  but  the  living 
speaker,  that  God  assures  the  chief  blessing  of  success. 


22^  ELOQUENCE    OF   THE   PULPIT. 

With  these  views  I  shall  point  out  some  principal  qualities 
of  the  apostle's  eloquence,  deducing  some  hints  from  them  for 
our  own  practice. 

1.  His  Dignity. 

The  apostle  always  stands  before  us  in  a  noble  attitude. 
There  is  nothing  little  in  all  he  says  and  does.  Whether  ad- 
dressing the  churches  by  authority,  or  preaching  the  Gospel 
to  the  heathen,  or  pleading  before  his  judges,  he  compels  re- 
spect. We  honor  him  for  his  tears,  we  admire  him  in  his 
chains,  the  disgrace  of  his  stripes  is  covered  by  his  magna- 
nimity, and  even  in  his  flight  we  see  the  missionary  of  good, 
not  the  fugitive  from  fear. 

As  a  ma7i  he  is  humble,  meek,  and  distrustful  of  himself ; 
but  as  an  apostle,  ever  conscious  of  his  high  office.  He  is  an 
ambassador  for  Christ,  speaking  in  God's  name  God's  will  to 
God's  sinful  creatures.  No  mortal  called  him  to  his  work, 
and  none  can  abash  him  in  it.  God  has  made  him  a  teacher 
of  sinful  men,  and  they  are  bound  to  hear  the  truth  and  obey 
it.  God  has  commanded  him  to  lead  the  church  in  the  right 
way,  and  he  walks  before  us  a  strong  champion  as  well  as 
guide,  fearless  and  confident  of  the  end.  He  is  sent  with 
God's  richest  benefactions  of  grace,  and  he  offers  the  bounty 
with  tenderness,  yet  the  tenderness  of  one  conferring  help. 

He  is  inspired  by  the  greatness  of  his  subjects.  It  is  of  no 
passing  thing,  no  temporary  expedient,  no  worldly  affairs  that 
he  discourses  ;  but  of  "  the  King  eternal,  immortal,  and  invisi- 
ble, the  only  wise  God,"  who  "  dwelleth  in  light  no  man  can 
approach,"  of  his  unspotted  holiness,  his  stern  justice,  his  un- 
changeable will ;  of  Christ,  the  manifestation  of  the  Godhead, 


ELOQUENCE   OF  THE  PULPIT.  227 

the  glory  of  his  person,  the  perfection  of  his  vicarious  obedi- 
ence, the  infiniteness  of  his  atonement,  the  majesty  of  his 
power,  the  height,  the  depth,  the  length,  the  breadth  of  his 
love ;  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  energy  of  all  might,  the  inspirer 
of  all  wisdom,  the  life  of  all  life,  the  source  of  all  sanctity,  the 
strength  of  all  virtue,  and  comforter  of  every  broken  but 
trusting  heart ;  of  the  soul  of  man,  its  ceaseless  being,  its 
priceless  value,  its  sad  ruin,  its  terrible  danger,  its  possible  im- 
mortality of  love  and  knowledge  and  blessedness.    He  beholds 
the  awful  throne,  the  Child  Wondekful,  God  with  us ; 
the  mysterious  suiferer  bowing  his  head  to  our  sorrows,  yet 
mighty  to  save ;  the  portentous  agony  in  the  garden ;  the 
accomplisher  of  redemption  breathing  out  his  soul  on  the 
cross ;  the  conqueror  of  hell  bursting  the  gates  of  death  ;  the 
breaker  ascending  for  us  through  the  rent  heavens,  acclaimed 
triumphant  by  the  hosts  of  God ;  Jesus,  the  name  above  every 
name,  sending  down  the  Spirit,  the  earnest  and  God  of  all 
grace  and  blessing ;  the  hosts  of  radiant  ministers  swift  to 
serve  the  heirs  of  salvation ;  the  Judge  in  the  clouds ;  the 
flashing  fires  of  eternal  death ;  the  uplifted  portals  of  glorified 
life  ;  the  innumerable  company  of  angels ;  the  multitude  whom 
no  man  can  number  of  the  church  of  the  First-born.     All 
these  are  about  him,  above  him,  beneath  him,  before  him,  fill- 
ing his  soul,  and  making  all  else  mean,  contemptible,  and 
vile  in  his  sight ;  and  his  language,  his  figures,  and  manner, 
are  as  lofty  as  his  thoughts.     His  dignity  is  not  assumed.     It 
transfigures  him  from  within.  He  is  clothed  upon  from  on  high. 
The  apostolical  office  ceased  when  the  holy  men  appointed 
immediately  by  the  Master  completed  the  foundation  of  the 


228  ELOQUENCE   OF  THE  PULPIT. 

church,  "  Jesus  Christ  himself  being  the  chief  corner  stone." 
But  the  preacher  is  commissioned  from  the  same  high  source. 
He  has  the  same  stupendous  themes.  He  Hves  and  labors 
for  the  same  eternal  results.  Nor  should  he  ever  enter  his 
pulpit  without  a  high  consciousness  of  his  office,  his  message, 
and  his  purpose.  The  moment  he  treads  its  sacred  platform, 
he  should  cease  from  the  knowledge  of  "  any  man  after  the 
flesh,"  and  all  his  powers  and  affections,  nay,  his  whole  being, 
be  absorbed  into  the  minister  of  Jesus,  and  his  every  word, 
tone,  gesture,  and  attitude,  commend  him  as  a  legate  of  the 
skies. 

Most  unworthy,  then,  of  our  place,  is  that  shamefacedness 
of  manner,  that  obsequious,  whining,  deprecatory  tone,  which 
so  often  makes  the  preacher  appear  like  a  cringing  beggar  or 
a  whipped  child,  and  excites  contempt  for  the  very  truth  he 
dishonors.  "What !  Are  we  ashamed  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ  ? 
Do  we  shrink  from  the  reproach  of  the  cross  ?  Need  we 
make  such  puling  excuses  for  being  honest  ?  Is  there  any 
thing  in  religion  to  make  its  advocate  "  hang  down  his  head 
like  a  bulrush,"  or  that  requires  him  to  sing  out  his  sermon 
through  his  nose  to  a  very  bad  tune  ?  What  have  we  to  fear 
from  men  ?  Should  not  love  for  them  cast  out  fear  ?  Was 
it  thus  Paul  spoke  before  his  judges  ?  or  Peter  or  Stephen 
before  the  Sanhedrim  ?  or  the  noble  martyrs  at  the  stake  ? 
Was  it  thus  that  Calvin,  and  Luther,  Zuingle  prevailed? 
If  we  tremble,  as  tremble  we  should,  let  it  be  at  the  awful  Pres- 
ence in  which  we  stand,  the  accountability  we  are  under, 
the  life  or  death  hanging  upon  our  lips.  If  we  weep,  or  our 
voices  falter,  let  it  be  in  sympathy  with  our  Master's  sorrows , 


ELOQUENCE    OF   THE   PULPIT.  229 

the  exquisite  tenderness  of  the  Spirit's  promise,  the  deep  an- 
guish of  wounded  souls,  the  unspeakable  misery  of  the  lost, 
the  dishonor  done  to  God's  holy  name.  The  source  of  such 
passions  ennobles  it,  dignifies  its  expression,  and  carries  with 
it  the  hearts  of  our  hearers.  Any  meaner  cause  of  emotion 
degrades  our  minds,  and  makes  us  contemptible,  if  not  ridicu- 
lous. No  wonder  that  men  respect  the  ministry  so  little,  they 
show  so  little  respect  for  themselves. 

True  dignity  in  the  pulpit  is  also  opposed  to  aU  affectation 
of  prettiness ;  to  a  mincing  effeminate  utterance,  a  rolling  of 
the  r,  a  precise  sibilation  of  the  s  ;  to  showy  words  and  tinsel 
phrases,  jingling  alliteration,  unnecessary  antitheses,  a  constant 
effort  at  a  rhythm  in  our  sentences,  elaborate  circumlocutions 
to  avoid  the  honest  idioms  of  our  mother  tongue  ;  or  a  dress- 
ing up  of  a  simple  idea  with  common  withered  flowers  of 
rhetoric,  until  the  people  can  see  nothing  but  the  millinery 
about  it,  and  the  smirking  artist  complacent  with  his  skill. 
The  preacher,  conscious  of  truth  and  intent  upon  his  great 
purpose,  I  will  not  say  disdains,  for  he  does  not  even  think  of 
such  poor  puerilities.  He  is  above  them,  manly,  honest  and 
sincere. 

But  he  does  not  fall  into  the  opposite  extreme  of  coarseness. 
He  is  himself  a  gentleman  and  a  scholar,  and,  therefore,  has 
a  due  regard  for  the  proper  feelings  and  taste  of  such  among 
his  auditors  ;  nor  will  he  allow  a  breach  of  grammar,  an  iU- 
pronunciation,  or  an  unseemly  provincialism,  to  disgust  those 
whom  he  would  persuade  to  salvation.  He  need  not  always 
aim  at  pleasing  the  learned,  but  he  is  not  the  less  intelligible 
by  all  for  speaking  good  English ;  or  if  he  wiU  appeal  to  our 

20 


230  ELOQUENCE    or  THE   PULPIT. 

literary  recollections,  he  must  not  expect  that  we  should  know 
whom  he  means  by  Aristrdes  or  ^schylus. 

As  affectation  is  never  graceful,  so  coarseness  is  never  ef- 
fective. There  is  no  force  nor  wit  in  slang  or  cant  expres- 
sions ;  or,  if  they  excite  attention  for  the  moment,  it  is  at  the 
expense  of  the  house  of  God,  the  ministry,  and  the  Gospel 
itself,  by  pandering  to  a  low  taste,  and  investing  sacred  things 
with  ludicrous  and  grovelling  associations.  The  man  who 
plays  the  buffoon  or  the  clown  in  a  pulpit,  leaves  not  that 
solemn  place  what  he  found  it.  However  dignified  the  preach- 
er may  be  that  follows  him,  the  people  cannot  look  up  to  listen, 
and  forget  the  tricks  that  were  played  where  he  stands  ;  vulgar 
pruriency  will  long  for  the  gross  excitement,  and  the  refined 
cannot  wholly  discharge  the  sickening  images  from  their 
thoughts.  Let  once  the  boisterous  laugh  ring  round  a  place 
of  worship,  and  its  echoes  will  disturb  the  meditations  of  the 
pious  for  many  a  long  day.  Why  do  we  spend  years  in  the 
study  of  ancient  and  modem  masters  of  language ;  why  do  we 
separate  ourselves  from  the  ruder  though  honorable  pursuits  of 
the  world  ;  why  do  we  invoke  the  presence  of  a  pure  and  sub- 
lime God,  if  it  be  not  to  attain  chasteness  of  diction,  purity  of 
thought,  and  holy  elevation  of  soul  ?  He  that  is  full  of  love 
to  God  and  man,  will  never  be  vulgar  in  his  conceptions  ;  and 
a  student  of  his  own  language  need  never  be  vulgar  in  his  dis- 
course. An  eminent  divine  once  said  that "  a  clean  soul  never 
dwelt  in  a  dirty  body ;"  so  we  may  say,  that  gross  words  never 
came  but  from  a  gross  mind. 

O  my  friends,  suffer  an  appeal  to  you  in  behalf  of  our  abus- 
ed and  dishonored  pulpit.     Despise  not  that  strong  charm 


ELOQUENCE    OF   THE   PULPIT.  231 

over  the  human  mind,  the  influence  of  association.  Never 
forget  yourselves,  nor  suffer  those  to  preach  for  you  who  do 
forget,  that  the  church  is  "  none  other  than  the  gate  of  heaven," 
and  the  ministry  men  consecrated  to  convert  the  hearts,  refine 
the  temper,  and  exalt  the  minds  of  a  degraded  world,  by  up- 
lifting before  them,  in  all  its  grandeur  and  sweetness,  the 
Gospel  of  a  holy  God.  Believe  me,  the  cause  we  love  has  lost 
far  more  than  you  can  soon  repair  by  the  profane  recklessness, 
and  debasing  Billingsgate  of  some  who  have  been  cried  up 
and  run  after  as  bold  preachers.  Bold !  He,  who  put  off  the 
shoes  from  his  feet  before  the  Angel  that  dwelt  in  the  bush  ; 
and  he,  who  wrapt  his  face  in  his  mantle  when  he  went  forth 
to  speak  with  God  from  the  cave  in  Horeb  ;  and  the  seer  who 
cried  "  Wo  is  me !  for  I  am  a  man  of  unclean  lips  1"  and  he, 
who  never  wrote  to  the  churches  without  invoking  a  remem- 
brance that  he  was  an  apostle  of  Christ,  would  have  shudder- 
ed at  such  boldness  as  strange  blasphemy.  Pure  should  be 
the  hands,  and  reverent  the  spirit,  of  him  who  touches  the 
sacred  things  of  the  temple.  I  doubt  the  success  of  those 
who  despise  Christian  decencies.  Surely,  coarseness  is  not 
contributive  to  the  force  of  truth,  or  our  scriptural  patterns 
are  sadly  defective.  The  good  they  seem  to  do  at  the  mo- 
ment, is  far  more  than  counterbalanced  by  the  mischief  they 
fling  over  the  future.  I  respect  a  blacksmith  in  his  place ;  the 
dust  of  his  furnace  and  his  sweaty  strength  are  a  glory  to  him. 
there ;  but  I  cannot  restrain  contempt  for  the  preacher,  who 
affects  the  grim  features,  and  coatless  arms,  and  sledge-sling- 
ing gestures  of  a  blacksmith,  in  the  pulpit.  I  can  feel  for  one 
whom  nature  made  ungainly,  or  who  lacked  an  early  educa- 


232  ELOQUENCE    OF   THE   PULPIT. 

tion  to  train  his  speech ;  I  can  forget  his  unavoidable  defects 
in  honor  of  his  zeal  and  talents ;  but  he  who  apes  deformities, 
and  strives  after  rude  eccentricities,  deserves  no  pity,  except 
such  as  we  give  to  a  fool  playing  with  the  fires  of  an  altar,  or 
a  madman  laughing  at  the  lightning  of  heaven.  Gentlemen, 
pardon  me,  if  in  rebuking  this  fault  of  coarseness  I  seem  to 
have  fallen  into  it  myself.  I  have  touched  pitch  and  I  am 
defiled. 

It  must  not  be  said,  however,  that  true  wit  should  be  utter- 
ly banished  from  the  sermon  or  the  religious  treatise.  It  is 
among  the  attributes  of  the  orator.  Many  proverbs  of  Sol- 
omon have  the  point  of  an  epigram.  There  was  irony,  keen 
and  wholesome,  in  the  advice  of  Elijah  to  the  priests  of  Baal ; 
and  a  bystander  must  have  enjoyed  the  dilemma  into  which 
the  blessed  Master  threw  the  cavilling  scribes,  respecting  the 
baptism  of  John  or  the  lawfulness  of  paying  tribute.  Sweet 
Bishop  Hall,  honest  Matthew  Henry,  and  even  the  stately 
Barrow,  often  surprise  us  into  a  smile ;  while  shrewd  Thomas 
Fuller  compels  us  to  lay  down  his  book,  and  enjoy  a  laugh 
"  that  doeth  good  like  a  medicine."  A  pointed  Laconism,  a  turn 
of  fair  ridicule  upon  an  absurd  objection,  or  an  apt  illustration 
from  common  life,  may  give  pungency  to  an  argument  with- 
out disturbing  due  gravity.  But  there  is  need  of  very  great 
caution  in  this ;  and  if  wit  be  allowed  at  all,  it  should  be  very 
seldom,  and  then  only  of  the  highest  order.  Mere  play  upon 
words,  quibs  to  excite  mirth,  broad  caricature,  or  ludicrous 
acting  of  a  story,  in  a  word,  jocoseness  of  any  kind,  is  intol- 
erable. Sarcasm  is  also  a  most  dangerous  tendency  in  a 
preacher,  and,  if  possible,  should  be  plucked  out  by  the  roots. 


ELOQUENCE    OP   THE   PULPIT.  233 

It  betrays  us  into  giving  many  a  harsh  blow  that  we  are 
sorry  for  afterward,  and  often  embitters  those  against  us 
whom  we  might  have  made  our  friends.  A  good  natured 
man  cannot  give  vent  to  sarcasm,  except  he  be  provoked  out 
of  his  good  nature.  It  is  the  venom  of  the  serpent,  not  his 
wisdom.  The  Christian  orator  stoops  too  low  when  he  strikes 
to  hurt. 

To  preserve  an  entire  dignity,  requires  a  scrupulous  and 
thorough  care.  Nothing  should  be  suffered  to  break  the  ed- 
ifying charm.  The  pulpit  itself  deserves  to  be  entered  with 
deliberate  respect.  It  is  an  impressive  custom  of  the  Church 
of  Holland  for  the  minister  to  pause  at  its  lowest  step  in  silent 
prayer.  Such  honour  is  due  to  the  place  and  the  service. 
The  manuscript  should  not  be  adjusted,  nor  any  petty  ar- 
rangement made  during  the  singing,  as  if  praise  were  a  form 
with  which  a  minister  has  nothing  to  do.  The  books  ought 
to  be  handled  with  a  quiet  reverence,  and  not  flung  about, 
nor  thumped  on  as  mere  dead  matter.  The  Holy  Volume 
contains  the  words  of  eternal  life.  It  lies  upon  the  desk  as  a 
sacrifice  on  an  altar,  reminding  us  of  the  great  Sacrifice  that 
finished  all  expiation.  Nor  should  it  be  laid  aside  to  make 
room  for  our  notes,  nor  closed  up  as  we  begin  an  extemporane- 
ous exhortation,  as  though  we  had  no  use  for  it  except  in  the 
form  of  taking  a  text.  It  is  the  Word  of  God,  and  if  we  rever- 
ence in  spirit  the  truth  it  contains,  we  will  treat  with  some  out^ 
ward  respect  the  book  itself.  The  Amen  at  the  close  of  prayer  is 
not  an  unmeaning  note  of  termination,  nor  the  benediction  a 
mere  licet  exire  ;  both  need  a  full  and  solemn  enunciation,  and 
the  latter  should  never  be  pronounced  except  the  auditory  be 
20* 


234  ELOQUENCE    OF   THE   PULPIT. 

waiting  solemnly  to  receive  it.  We  have  no  right  to  give  the 
blessing  of  Almighty  God  to  a  disorderly  people.  The  very 
notices  should  be  read,  not  pompously  indeed  as  if  we  were 
preaching  them,  but  with  a  proper  distinctness,  showing  that 
they  are  worth  hearing,  for  those  unworthy  such  regard  have 
no  right  to  be  there.  Above  all,  the  sacred  names  of  God, 
the  Holy  Spirit  and  the  blessed  Jesus,  must  never  be  pro- 
nounced without  manifest  awe,  and  when  possible  should  be 
preceded  or  followed  by  some  epithet  or  ascription  of  praise. 

Such  was  our  apostle's  habit,  and  among  his  richest  bursts 
of  holy  feeling  are  those  struck  from  his  heart  by  the  mention 
of  the  names  he  loved  to  adore.  "We  cannot  be  too  holy  in 
our  Sabbath  duties,  and  that  holiness  should  appear. 

No  rules  are  sufficient  to  form  a  dignity  for  the  pulpit.  A 
pious  life  is  essential,  for  no  man  can  rebuke  vice  when  he 
practises  it,  nor  recommend  Christian  virtue  which  he  neglects, 
without  a  consciousness  of  inconsistency  fatal  to  dignity.*  It 
was  the  unanimous  opinion  of  writers  upon  eloquence  in  an- 
cient times,  that  no  one  could  be  a  great  orator  except  he 
were  a  good  man,  because  he  wanted  dignity  of  character  to 
support  his  elevation.  So  a  careless  Christian  will  make  a 
poor  preacher,  though  he  may  be  showy,  eloquent  in  some 
respects,  and  popular  among  the  weaker  brethren ;  but  a  poor 
preacher  as  concerns  spiritual  understanding  of  Grod's  Word, 
Christian  experience  and  arguments  of  divine  love.  He  has 
not  that  consciousness  within,  in  the  absence  of  which  he  must 

*  Caput  enim  esse  arbitrabatur  oratoris,  ut  et  ipsis  apud  quos  ageret, 
talis  qaalem  se  ipse  optaret,  videretur ;  id  fieri  vitse  dignitate.  Cic.  de 
Orat.  I.  19. 


ELOQUENCE    OF   THE   PULPIT.  235 

feel  himself  to  be  but  "  as  sounding  brass  and  tinkling  cym- 
bal." Much  prayer,  believing  study  of  the  Scriptures,  and 
actual  experience  of  the  Christian  warfare,  are  vitally  neces- 
sary to  a  high  strain  of  pious  thought,  and  intimate  sympathy 
with  Christ's  people. 

A  taste  cultivated  by  familiarity  with  good  authors,  will  direct 
to  a  proper  choice  of  words  and  figures,  as  by  a  certain  in- 
stinct. But  especially  the  Scriptures  themselves,  and  our  no- 
ble translation  of  them  (which  may  God  keep  men  from 
attempting  to  improve !)  is  the  best  storehouse  of  our  rhetoric. 
There  we  find  abundant  examples  of  every  good  style,  and  we 
may  turn  confidently  to  it  for  help  in  every  difficulty.  A  sen- 
tence turned  with  an  apt  text  is  always  impressive,  and  scrip- 
tural images  never  pall  on  the  ear.  This  use  of  his  Bilde 
was  the  chief  charm  of  the  seraphic  Summerfield,  the  most 
persuasive  preacher  I  have  ever  heard.  It  is  also  the  holy 
excellence  of  Leighton,  whose  sentences  distil  like  honey  from 
a  cleft  in  the  rock  Christ  Jesus,  the  fragrance  of  whose  pre- 
cious Name  is  as  ointment  poured  forth  over  every  page  he 
wrote.  When  the  preacher  has  bathed  his  soul  in  that  pure 
fountain,  and  invoked  the  dove-like  fire  of  the  Spirit  as  he 
comes  up  from  his  baptism  ;  when  he  has  knelt  at  the  foot  of 
the  cross  to  gaze  upon  Him  that  hung  there  in  agonies  of 
love,  and  then  carried  forward  his  faith  to  eternal  things,  his 
eyes  will  have  such  a  life,  his  countenance  such  a  glow,  his 
port  such  a  religious  gravity  that  men  must  know  he  has  been 
with  Jesus. 

2.  His  Courtesy. 

Can  I  be  wrong  in  saying  that  a  Christian  preacher  should 


236  ELOQUENCE    OF   THE   PULPIT. 

be  the  highest  style  of  gentleman  ?  Not  one  of  those  polished 
hypocrites,  fashioned  by  the  tailor,  dancing  master  and  hair- 
dresser, who  usurp  the  name  ;  covering  coldness  of  heart  with 
pretences  of  friendship ;  flattering  to  cajole ;  bowing  where 
they  feel  no  respect,  and  promising  service  while  they  intend 
to  abandon,  circumvent  or  destroy.  But  a  gentleman  in  the 
true  sense  of  that  honorable  term,  firm  in  high  principle,  and 
dignified  by  integrity ;  frank  without  bluntness,  kind  without 
flattery,  gentle  without  weakness,  exact  without  formality, 
charitable  without  show ;  free  from  affectation,  egotism,  or 
impertinence ;  ever  mindful  of  his  neighbor's  feelings,  tolerant 
of  his  infirmities,  and  patient  with  his  mistakes  ;  never  intru- 
sive nor  yet  bashful,  tempering  his  speech  to  the  occasion, 
ready  to  give  place  to  the  older,  the  wiser,  the  stranger  and 
the  more  feeble ;  yielding  scrupulous  respect  to  authority,  not 
ashamed  of  allegiance  to  God,  and  serving  his  fellow  men  for 
Grod's  sake ;  a  gentleman  not  in  outward  garb  only,  though  of 
that  not  careless  from  deference  to  the  world  and  himself; 
not  in  mere  phrase  or  form,  though  in  these  seeking  to  pro- 
pitiate ;  not  in  education  or  accomplishment,  though  despising 
no  worthy  aid  to  his  social  influence ;  nor  from  station  or  pur- 
suit in  life,  but  in  heart,  purpose  and  conduct,  recommending 
virtue  by  an  example  without  obtrusion,  and  religion  without 
sanctimony ;  rebuking  scandal,  profaneness  and  impurity  by 
well-measured  remonstrance,  or  silent  withdrawal ;  anxious  to 
please  that  he  may  do  good,  but  giving  no  countenance  to  evil 
through  fear  or  favor  of  man. 

Such  a  gentleman  was  our  apostle.     Observe  him  before 
Agrippa.     With  what  courteous  respect  he  acknowledges  the 


ELOQUENCE    OF   THE    PULPIT.  237 

rank  and  intelligence  of  the  royal  Jew  as  he  opens  his  defence, 
propitiating  the  king  while  he  does  no  dishonor  to  himself! 
What  elegant  strength  in  his  reply  to  the  bluff  governor  ;  "  I 
am  not  mad,  most  noble  Festus,  but  speak  forth  the  words  of 
truth  and  soberness !"  How  he  breaks  the  rudeness  of  a  posi- 
tive contradiction  by  interposing  the  address  "  most  noble  Fes- 
tus," between  the  members  of  the  sentence !  How  readily 
also  does  he  take  back  his  burst  of  indignation  at  the  pontiff's 
unjust  insolence,  and  condemn  his  own  hasty  impropriety :  "  I 
wist  not  that  it  was  the  High  Priest,  for  it  is  written,  Thou 
shalt  not  speak  evil  of  the  ruler  of  thy  people." 

Throughout  his  epistles,  though  w^riting  as  an  apostle,  he 
never  forgets  the  honor  due  to  those  "  called  to  be  saints," 
merging  his  superior  name  in  those  of  "  brethren,"  "  friend," 
"  fellow  citizens  with  the  saints,"  "  household  of  God,"  "  dearly 
beloved  ;"  nay,  though  he  claims  eminence  at  the  beginning  of 
his  address,  he  delights  to  humble  himself,  as  their  servant, 
their  fellow-sinner,  "  the  chief  of  sinners,"  "  the  prisoner  of  the 
Lord  for  their  sakes,"  and  their  "  debtor"  in  holy  things ;  while 
he  exalts  them  as  "  faithful  brethren,"  "  his  joy  and  his  crown." 
How  kindly  mindful  to  greet  them  with  the  gracious  salutation, 
and  to  show  at  the  close,  that  he  has  not  forgotten  the  atten- 
tions of  his  friends.  The  epistle  to  Philemon  is  a  perfect  pat- 
tern of  Christian  delicacy  and  confiding  friendship.  Mark, 
how  he  omits  his  usual  designation  of  himself  as  an  apostle, 
lest  he  might  seem  to  demand  by  authority,  what  he  requests 
as  a  favor ;  and  how  he  assures  Philemon  of  the  continuance 
of  his  regard,  whether  that  favor  be  granted  or  not,  by  com- 


238  ELOQUENCE    OF   THE    PULPIT. 

missioning  him  to  prepare  a  lodging  against  a  visit,  which  he 
doubts  not  is  desired  by  both.  There  are  times  when  he 
commands,  but  he  more  often  entreats  and  beseeches ;  and 
when  he  rebukes  and  denounces,  it  is  as  an  apostle  speaking 
by  inspiration  of  God.  He  was  ever,  to  use  his  own  sweet 
words,  "  gentle  among  them,  even  as  a  nurse  cherisheth  her 
children." 

This  was  not  accidental  nor  mere  outward  semblance  with 
Paul.  It  was  the  result  of  principle,  as  we  may  learn  from 
his  advices  to  the  Church.  "  Be  kindly  afFectioned  one  to 
another  with  brotherly  love,"  writes  he  to  the  Romans,  "  in 
honor  preferring  one  another."  And  to  Timothy :  "  Rebuke 
not  an  elder,  but  entreat  him  as  a  father,  and  the  younger 
men  as  brethren ;  the  elder  women  as  mothers,  the  younger 
as  sisters  in  all  purity.  Honor  widows  that  are  widows  in- 
deed." And  to  Titus :  "  Put  them  in  mind  to  be  subject  to  prin- 
cipalities and  powers,  to  obey  magistrates,  to  be  ever  ready  to 
every  good  work.  To  speak  evil  of  no  man,  to  be  no  brawlers, 
but  gentle,  showing  all  meekness  to  all  men."  And  when  de- 
scribing a  bishop,  '  in  which  good  office  you  desire  to  be  found,' 
he  says :  "  a  bishop  must  be  blameless,  the  husband  of  one 
wife,  vigilant,  sober,  of  good  behavior,*  (or  comely  in  his 
manners)  given  to  hospitality,  apt  to  teach,  not  given  to  wine, 
no  striker,  not  greedy  of  filthy  lucre,  but  patient ;  not  a  brawl- 
er, not  covetous,  one  that  ruleth  well  his  own  house ; 

not  a  novice,  lest  being  lifted  up  with  pi'ide  he  fall  into  the 
condemnation  of  the  devil." 

Nor  were  these  views  peculiar  to  our  apostle.     The  apostle 

*  Koa/iioi;. 


ELOQUENCE   OP  THE  PULPIT.  239 

Peter,  once  the  blunt,  rash,  passionate,  headlong,  but  ever 
noble-hearted    Peter,    confirms    such    good    rules:  "Honor 
all  men.     Love  the  brotherhood.    Fear  God.      Honor  the 
King."     again ;  "  Be  ye  all  of  one  mind,  having  compassion 
one  of  another,  loving  as  brethren,  be  pitiful,  be  courteous,  not 
rendering  evil  for  evil,  but  contrariwise  blessing."     The  laconic 
James  puts  politeness  on  the  right  foundation,  when  he  bids 
us  treat  the  "  poor  man  in  vile  raiment,"  as  respectfully  as  the 
rich  man  with  his  "  gold  ring  and  goodly  apparel."     I  need 
not  remind  you  of  the  benignity  which  breathes  through  the 
keen  searching  words  of  the  beloved  disciples,  as  with  the  snows 
of  ninety  winters  upon  his  apostolic  head,  he  exhorts  his  "  little 
children  to  love  one  another."     Nor  of  Jude's  disavowal  from 
the  number  of  true  Christians,  of  "  filthy  dreamers"  who  "  de- 
spise dominion,  speak  evil  of  dignities,"  "  murmurers,  com- 
plainers,  walking  after  their  own  lusts ;    and  their  mouths 
speaking  great  swelling    words ;    having  men's    persons  in 
admiration,  because  of  advantage." 

These,  beloved  brethren,  are  the  maxims  that  should  govern 
our  lives,  and  mark  our  demeanor  in  the  pulpit,  where  we 
stand  in  Christ's  place,  examples  as  well  as  expounders  of 
Christianity.  We  need  no  silken  deceits,  no  fashionable  aix's, 
no  flattering  obsequiousness.  But  if  we  be  humble  as  we 
ought  to  be,  sinners  that  we  are  against  a  holy  God ;  if  we  be 
living  sacrifices  to  the  world's  good  for  his  sake,  and  our  hearts 
full  of  love,  and  gentleness,  and  holy  peace ;  if  we  walk  as 
followers  of  the  meek,  mild  and  merciful  Jesus,  and  learn,  as 
good  scholars,  from  the  Holy  Spirit  of  concord  and  order,  we 
must  manifest  it  by  a  real  deference,  a  sweet  respect,  a  kind 


240  ELOQUENCE    OF   THE   PULPIT. 

consideration,  and  a  gracious  manner  towards  all  with  whom 
we  have  to  do. 

If  we  address  men  as  sinners,  it  will  not  be  in  harsh  or  re- 
pulsive language  as  though  we  were  better  than  they ;  but 
putting  ourselves  among  them  as  sinners  saved  by  free  grace, 
which  we  entreat  them  to  share.  If  we  rebuke,  it  will  be  in 
the  name  of  God,  before  whom  we  tremble.  If  we  denounce 
licentiousness,  it  will  be  in  no  gross  terms,  but  with  a  delicacy 
shrinking  from  the  shame  duty  requires  us  to  discover.  If 
we  foretell  the  miseries  of  the  lost,  it  will  be  with  a  pious  ter- 
ror, and  an  earnest  desire  to  avert  them  from  our  hearers,  for 
"  it  is  a  fearful  thing  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  living  God ;" 
and  we  might  well  weep  over  impenitent  souls,  as  Christ  did 
over  Jerusalem.  If  we  be  in  controversy  (though  it  is  far  bet- 
ter to  refute  error  by  teaching  truth),  our  opponent,  however 
we  handle  his  arguments,  should  receive  from  us  the  respect 
due  to  a  man.  Mere  abuse  always  gives  him  a  moral  advan- 
tage in  the  sympathies  of  the  people,  and  supercilious  airs  of 
anticipated  triumph  disgust  by  their  vanity.  Hailing  makes 
a  blackguard  mouth,  and  he  who  calls  ill-names  in  the  pulpit, 
or  out  of  it,  dares  to  say  of  his  fellow-sinner  what  Michael, 
the  archangel,  dared  not  of  the  devil  himself.  There  is  noth- 
ing so  strong  as  a  fair  argument  in  meek  lips.  "  Blessed  are 
the  meek,  for  they  shall  inherit  the  earth." 

Our  brethren  in  the  ministry  should  ever  be  spoken  of  with 
honor  and  kindness.  Let  ministers  show  disrespect  for  each 
other,  and  the  world  will  soon  show  disrespect  for  the  whole 
ministry.  They  are  heralds  of  "  the  glorious  gospel  of  the 
blessed  God."     Especially,  the  fathers  in  the  ministry  are  to 


ELOQUENCE    OP   THE   PULPIT.  241 

be  venerated,  and  given  all  precedence.  "  Rise  up  before  the 
hoary  head,"  is  a  command  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  but  when 
that  head  has  grown  gray  in  righteousness,  and  been  made 
glorious  by  many  anointings  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  it  ought  to 
abash  the  flippant  tongue  and  beardless  self-sufBciency  of  a 
stripling,  but  a  few  days  from  the  theological  nursery.  It  i& 
most  offensive  to  see  such  green  babblers  pushing  aside  God's 
veterans  in  council  and  action.  The  new  weight  of  responsi- 
bility should  make  them  humble,  and  common  decency  loth 
to  obtrude.  He  that  is  not  willing  to  take  the  lowest  place, 
shall  never  hear  the  Master  saying,  "  Friend,  come  up  high- 
er." To  be  conspicuous  in  littleness  one  need  only  stand  on 
the  pedestal  of  a  Colossus. 

Without  prayer  for  men  in  authority,  the  worship  of  the 
sanctuary  is  never,  according  to  the  scriptural  pattern,  complete. 
Whoever  holds  the  place,  our  prayers  for  him  are  due  to  him- 
self, the  country,  and  to  God.  Such  prayer  should  be  in  the 
most  respectful  terms.  Whatever  may  be  our  opinions  re- 
specting the  personal  worth  or  public  policy  of  our  rulers,  our 
sincerity  in  desiring  God's  blessing  upon  them  is  always  to  be 
apparent.  Indeed,  I  know  of  no  greater  or  more  profane 
breach  of  religious  decency  than  praying  at  any  fellow-sinner. 
It  is  to  aggravate  our  quarrel  in  the  presence  of  God.  It  is 
cursing  man,  while  pretending  to  bless  his  Maker.  Almost 
equally  bad  is  preaching  at  individuals.  We  certainly  are  to 
have  a  consideration  of  the  moral  condition  of  every  one  who 
hears  us,  and  our  preaching  should  be  adapted  to  their  benefit 
without  any  shrinking  from  honest  duty ;  but  that  is  far  dif- 
ferent from  singling  them  out  and  gibbeting  them  before  the 

21 


242  ELOQUENCE    OF   THE   PULPIT. 

congregation.  It  is  taking  them  at  an  unfair  disadvantage, 
sheltering  ourselves  under  the  shadow  of  the  altar,  while  we 
dart  forth  venomed  missiles.  It  is  defiling  the  Gospel  with 
bad  temper  and  insolence.  Personal  rebukes  belong  to  the 
private  interview,  the  Gospel  method  of  first  dealing  with  those 
who  have  done  wrong.  If  we  play  the  Pharisee,  we  can- 
not successfully  exhort  others  to  imitate  the  penitence  of  those 
whom  God  justifies. 

I  have  comprised  these  characteristics  of  the  Christian 
preacher  under  the  general  name  of  courtesy,  which  is  the  out- 
ward exhibition  of  the  inward  grace  of  love.  "Without  it  we  are 
unlike  Paul,  his  brethren  the  apostles,  and  the  blessed  Master. 

3.  His  Directness. 

For  nothing  is  our  apostle  more  remarkable  than  the  single- 
ness of  his  purpose.  The  glory  of  God  in  the  salvation  of 
men  was  the  one  thing  for  which  he  lived  and  labored.  All 
things  else  were  loss,  contemptible,  compared  with  this  great 
end.  He  looked  upon  himself  as  not  his  own,  but  wholly  be- 
longing to  Christ,  bound  to  advance  by  divine  help  His  cause, 
according  to  His  directions,  and  for  His  praise.  Personal 
safety,  the  favor  of  men,  power,  fame,  riches,  ease,  were  not 
counted  in  his  reckoning,  or  reckoned  only  to  be  flung  aside 
while  endeavoring  after  eternal  things.  We  see  nowhere  in 
his  course  a  shrinking  from  danger,  though  constantly  exposed 
to  its  most  terrible  forms ;  or  a  desire  for  reputation,  though 
well  fitted  to  acquire  it  by  natural  talent  and  large  acquisitions  ; 
and  as  for  rank  in  the  world,  or  the  goods  of  this  life,  he  gave 
them  up,  never  to  sigh  after  them  more,  when  he  was  convert- 


ELOQUENCE    OF  THE   PULPIT.  243 

ed,  on  the  way  to  Damascus,  from  the  ambitious  emissary  of 
the  Sanhedrim,  to  a  follower  of  Jesus,  glorying  only  in  the 
cross.  Paul  was  nothing  to  him,  except  in  the  glory  of  his 
reward.     Jesus  was  all. 

Skilled  in  the  learning  of  the  Gi'eeks,  and  intimately  ac- 
quainted with  their  theories,  he  was  under  a  temptation,  that 
seems  almost  irresistible,  to  philosophize  (as  the  early  fathers 
soon  learned  to  do)  upon  the  grand  truths  of  the  new  reli- 
gion ;  and,  especially,  when  writing  to  the  Gentiles,  to  show 
how  far  the  metaphysics  of  the  Christian  scheme  were  above 
those  of  the  Pagan  schools.  But  we  never  find  him  so  en- 
gaged. He  is  never  unphilosophical,  but  at  the  same  time 
he  never  runs  into  abstractions,  or  speculations  not  practical, 
.  such  as  have  set  the  church  of  all  ages  into  turmoil  for  the 
sake  of  displaying  the  acuteness  or  novel  discoveries  of  theo- 
logians, who  would  be  wise  above  what  is  written.  His  re- 
liance for  success  was  upon  the  power  of  the  cross.  His 
whole  system  of  morals,  like  his  Master's  was  summed  up  in 
love,  the  fulfilment  of  the  law  ;  and  his  motives  to  obedience 
were  all  drawn  from  the  love  of  God  in  redemption,  the 
hope  of  heaven,  and  the  upholding  power  of  the  gracious 
Spirit.  To  lift  up  that  cross  before  the  eyes  of  men,  to  illus- 
trate that  love,  to  display  those  arguments,  and  to  assure  the 
help  of  that  Spirit,  absorbed  his  whole  soul.  All  time  was 
lost  that  was  not  spent  upon  them.  Men  were  not  to  be 
saved  by  philosophy.  Metaphysical  acumen  could  not  pierce 
a  heart  with  a  sense  of  sin.  Grace  alone  could  convert 
and  sanctify.  He  knew  that  "  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus"  was 
the  medium  and  instrument  of  grace,  and  the  Gospel  was 


244  ELOQUENCE    OF   THE   PULPIT. 

his  only  theme.  He  ran,  like  the  racer  he  loved  to  describe, 
with  his  eye  fixed  upon  the  great  end  of  his  calling,  hesi- 
tating for  nothing,  turning  aside  for  nothing,  desiring  nothing 
else. 

To  be  like  him,  it  is  in  vain  for  us  to  stop  short  of  imitating 
his  spirit.  So  long  as  any  inferior  motive  clings  to  the  heart 
of  the  preacher,  his  thoughts,  his  words,  his  whole  manner, 
will  have  a  sinister  bias.  The  pride  of  the  man,  the  scholar, 
or  the  philosopher,  will  creep  in  and  pervert  his  purpose. 
Unhappy  is  that  people,  whom  their  more  unhappy  preacher 
leads  away  from  the  green  pastures  and  the  pure  waters  of 
the  Gospel,  into  the  dry  and  barren  mazes  of  intricate  disqui- 
sition. That  belongs  to  the  formal  treatise  or  the  professor's 
chair ;  not  to  the  pulpit,  which  should  feed  Christ's  unlearned 
poor,  his  lambs,  the  little  children  of  his  grace.  We  are 
preachers  of  the  cross.  Our  commission  is  "  to  preach  the 
Gospel."  The  Holy  Ghost  has  declared  the  doctrine  of  re- 
demption by  a  crucified  Saviour  to  be  the  "  wisdom  of  God," 
and  "  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation."  Every  truth  we 
present  should  radiate  directly  from  the  cross,  and  point  di- 
rectly to  it,  else  we  do  not  preach  the  Gospel.  The  people 
should  hear  nothing  from  us  "  save  Jesus  Christ  and  Him 
crucified."  The  simple  story :  "  Christ  Jesus  came  into  the 
world  to  save  sinners,"  should  embalm  every  discourse  with 
its  precious  odor.  It  is  idle  to  say,  that  we  cannot  always 
bring  it  into  our  plan.  Nothing  is  Gospel,  except  as  it  teaches 
Jesus.  Wo  be  unto  us  if  we  preach  not  the  Gospel !  Never 
should  we  leave  the  pulpit  until  we  have  shown  the  sinner 
the  way  to  find  Christ.     The  Gospel  never  tires,  its  argu- 


ELOQUENCE    OF   THE   PULPIT.  245 

ments  never  fail.     It  is  a  philosophical  system  most  perfect, 
when  most  free  from  human  admixtures. 

At  the  same  time  it  is  true  that  our  apostle  often  directs 
his  efforts  to  the  elucidation  of  some  particular  doctrine,  as  in 
Romans,  justification  by  faith ;  in  Galatians,  the  inutility  of 
the  old  law  after  Christ ;  in  Ephesians,  the  mighty  power  of 
the  Spirit ;  in  Colossians,  the  connection  of  that  Spirit  with 
Christ's  person  and  work ;  in  Hebrews,  the  anticipative  proof 
of  the  Gospel  in  the  Levitical  economy.  In  these  his  argu- 
ment is  direct,  but  not  exclusive  of  other  great  doctrines. 
He  shows  us  clearly  what  preachers  so  often  forget,  that 
truth  lies  not  in  the  carrying  out  of  separate  principles,  but 
in  the  harmony  of  them  all.  He  always  honors  his  Lord 
Jesus ;  always  insists  upon  the  transforming  influence  of 
Christian  faith ;  always  vindicates  the  consistency  of  Chris- 
tian doctrine  and  Christian  practice.  It  is  the  neglect  of  this, 
the  losing  sight  of  the  whole  system  when  considering  a  part 
of  it,  that  produces  such  startling  paradoxes  and  impudent 
novelties  of  theology,  breaking  the  doctrines  of  religion  up 
into  disconnected  and  often  conflicting  fragments.  Doctrines 
should  never  appear  as  fragments,  but  their  relation  to  the 
whole  system  ought  to  be  seen.  Here  is  the  difficulty  between 
doctrinal  preaching  and  practical  preaching.  The  very 
thought  of  separating  them  is  mischievous.  Why  should  we 
divorce  what  God  has  joined  together?  Doctrine  fails  of  its 
end,  when  it  does  not  enforce  good  practice ;  and  there  will 
be  no  good  practice  without  sound  doctrine.  They  are  as 
inseparable  as  the  minds  and  hearts  of  our  hearers.  As 
mind  and  heart  are  one  soul,  so  doctrine  and  duty  should 
21* 


246  ELOQUENCE    OF   THE   PULPIT. 

make  up  one  sermon.  In  the  apostle  Paul  we  always  find 
them  thus  united,  and  he,  who  does  not  follow  that  sacred 
example  fails  as  a  preacher. 

To  secure  such  directness,  the  several  plans  of  our  apostle's 
writings  and  speeches  are  regular  and  perfectly  foreseen  by 
himself.  His  epistles,  in  this  respect  superior  to  those  of  his 
brethren,  when  most  severely  analyzed,  acquire  fresh  strength 
from  the  examination.  Indeed,  such  a  key  is  necessary  to 
the  fuU  understanding  of  the  several  parts  and  scope  of  the 
whole.  The  divisions  of  chapters  and  verses  in  our  common 
Bibles  are  not  sufficiently  regulated  by  the  sense,  and  our 
people  lose  greatly  from  the  habit  of  reading  and  meditating 
upon  disconnected  parts.  Much  of  the  seeming  obscurity 
of  Paul,  indeed  all,  except  what  arises  from  the  mysteries  of 
the  "  things  hard  to  be  understood,"  of  which  he  treated, 
and  the  difiiculty  of  rendering  the  original  into  our  tongue,  is 
from  our  ignorance  of  each  epistle  as  a  whole.  When  we 
have  mastered  his  plan,  or  if  we  give  ourselves  up  to  the 
current  of  his  thoughts  from  the  beginning,  all  will  seem  logi- 
cal and  direct.  Yet  his  plan  is  not  stringent.  His  logic  is 
of  the  open,  not  the  closed  hand.*  It  lies  not  in  syllogisms 
and  precise  steps  of  naked  reasoning,  formal  propositions, 
and  corollaries ;  nor  does  he  wind  up  with  a  quod  erat  demoji- 
strandum.  His  is  the  logic  of  an  orator,  of  a  practical,  earn- 
est man,  a  Christian  eager  to  move  the  hearts  of  his  hearers. 

*  Zeno  .  .  manu  demonstrare  solebat,  quid  inter  has  arteis  interes- 
set;  nam  cum  compresserat  digitos  pagnumque  fecerat  dialecticara 
aiebat  ejusmodi  esse:  cum  autem  diduxerat  et  manum  dilataverat, 
palmae  illias  similem  eloquentiam  esse  dicebat.     Cic.  Brutus,  32. 


ELOQUENCE    OF   THE    PULPIT.  247 

Therefore,  his  apostrophizing  addresses,  his  appeals  to  the 
deep  emotions  of  our  nature,  his  dramatic  exhibitions,  and 
grand  bursts  of  lofty  ejaculation.  But  he  always  looks 
through  to  his  end.     He  has  the  goal  ever  in  his  eye. 

So  is  order  a  primary  requisite  to  the  clearness  and  point 
of  our  discourses.  We  preach  at  a  venture,  when  we  know 
not  what  we  are  going  to  do.  Every  thought  should  be  in 
its  proper  place,  precisely  where  it  will  accumulate  the  force 
of  the  demonstration.  Yet,  as  in  Paul,  that  order  need  not 
be  laid  open  at  full  length,  near  the  opening  of  a  discourse,  a 
habit  imposed  upon  the  pulpit  by  scholastic  affectation,  but 
unknown  in  the  former  ages  of  the  church.*  In  didactic 
discourses  it  is  well  enough,  perhaps  is  necessary,  to  assist  the 
hearer.  But,  generally,  it  is  far  better  that  our  order  should 
develop  itself  to  our  hearers  in  our  progress,  than  be  formally 
set  before  them.  It  puts  them  on  their  guard  against  our  proper 
arts  of  conviction,  challenges  as  it  were  their  minds  to  resis- 
tance, when  it  were  wiser  to  surprise  them  into  an  acknowl- 
edgment of  the  truth  by  progressive  reasoning.  What  should 
we  think  of  a  general,  who  should  advise  his  adversary  of 
the  plan  of  his  attack  ?  Yet  the  hearts  of  those  we  address 
are  naturally  at  enmity  with  the  truth.  It  also  destroys  the 
unity  of  a  discourse  by  breaking  it  into  several,  each  requir- 
ing its  exordium,  argument,  and  conclusion.  It  cramps  the 
increasing  force  of  eloquence,  and  binds  the  wings  of  the 
soul,  compelling  it  to  descend  at  each  division  and  renew  its 
flight,  which  should  be  ever  onward  and  upward.     It  makes 

*  See  Penelon's  Second  Dialogue  on  Eloquence. 


248  ELOQUENCE    OP   THE   PULPIT. 

necessary  such  unseemly  impertinencies  as  "  not  to  anticipate 
another  head,"  or  "  as  we  said  before,"  or  "  this  we  shall  treat 
of  more  at  length  in  another  place ;"  thus  exhibiting  the 
preacher  entangled  by  his  own  rules.  Besides  which,  it 
often  leads  us  astray  from  the  main  point,  and  perverts  the 
text  from  being,  what  it  usually  is,  a  link  in  a  chain  of  rea- 
soning, into  an  imaginary  microcosm  of  all  truth ;  whereas 
we  should  use  it  precisely  as  the  sacred  writer  intended  it, 
else  we  are  almost  sure  to  go  astray.  We  often  find  in  prac- 
tice that  our  divisions,  however  clear  they  may  seem  at  first, 
alter  or  maim  the  whole  purpose  of  our  discourse,  and  ex- 
haust our  time  in  preliminary  details  to  such  a  degree,  that 
little  or  none  is  left  for  the  enforcement  of  our  main  thought. 
There  should  be  method,  but  that  method  so  managed  as  to 
be  a  help,  not  an  embarrassment.  Chalmers  and  Melville 
give  us  some  fine  specimens  of  the  clear,  well-ordered  dis- 
course, without  such  shackling  impediments.  They  are 
free  in  a  regulated  liberty ;  especially  the  former,  who  ex- 
ults in  the  grandeur  of  his  conceptions  while  tending  steadily 
to  enforce  the  great  truth  of  which  his  soul  is  eloquent.  It 
has  been  said  of  him,  that  his  sermons  contain  each  but  one 
idea,  repeated  and  turned  over  again  and  again.  Be  it  so. 
If  he  have  but  one  idea,  what  an  idea  it  is  !  It  is  worth  a 
month's  preaching  from  the  creeping  critics  who  cavil  at  him. 
He  is  no  mean  man,  that  can  send  his  people  home  with 
one  great  truth  fastened  upon  their  souls  in  its  strength  and 
beauty. 

Nor  was  the  apostle  unmindful  of  circumstances,  but  on 
the  contrary  he  skilfully  adapted  himself  to  place,  occasion, 


ELOQUENCE    OF   THE   PULPIT.  249 

and  people.  His  subject,  arguments,  and  inferences,  are 
combined  to  secure  attention,  and  aid  his  purpose  of  con- 
vincing. We  see  this  in  his  reasoning  before  Felix  and 
Drusilla  "  of  righteousness,  temperance,  and  judgment  to 
come ;"  in  his  defence  before  Agrippa,  where  he  quotes  from 
Jewish  scriptures,  alludes  to  Jewish  customs,  and  advances 
Jewish  doctrines,  as  the  bases  of  his  argument ;  in  his  speech 
upon  Areopagus,  where,  taking  his  text  from  the  altar  to  the 
unknown  God,  he  refers  to  the  magnificent  temples  and 
statues  on  the  Acropolis,  and  uses  the  prominent  notions  of 
the  principal  Athenian  schools  to  enforce  his  arguments,  at 
the  same  time  making  an  apt  quotation  from  a  philosophical 
poet ;  and  in  the  figures  he  employs  when  writing  to  Gentiles 
or  Jews.* 

Our  Saviour  also  gives  us  some  delightful  instances  of  this. 
A  sparrow  flutters  in  the  air,  lilies  are  growing  in  some  neigh- 
boring garden,  a  fig-tree  is  budding  or  shooting  forth  her 
young  leaves  by  the  way  side,  the  harvest  is  waving  ripe  for 
the  sickle,  or  the  sunset  "  sky  is  red  and  lowering,"  and  each 
suggests  some  profitable  parable.  Indeed,  there  is  no  lack  of 
scriptural  examples  and  texts  to  warrant  our  drawing  rich 
lessons  from  the  Spring,  the  Summer,  the  Autumn  and  Win- 
ter, and  a  thousand  other  changes  of  the  world  around  us. 
The  preacher  has  three  divine  books  from  which  to  take 
themes  and  illustrations  of  evangelical  truth,  the  book  of 
Nature,  and  the  book  of  Providence,  as  well  as  the  book  of 


*  "  He  never  speaks  of  the  games  to  the  Romans,  or  of  adoption  to 
the  Greeks."  —  Hannah  More. 


250  ELOQUENCE    OF   THE   PULPIT. 

Grace.  To  do  this  well,  forms  no  small  part  of  directness 
in  preaching,  for  men's  minds  are  much  subject  to  things 
present,  and  are  moved  by  what  concerns  them  peculiarly, 
and  won  to  listen  by  a  recognition  of  their  particular  opin- 
ions, or  a  consideration  of  their  special  circumstances.  He 
has  a  happy  mind  and  a  holy  heart,  who  can  use  all  these 
to  give  variety  and  interest  to  his  preaching,  while  they 
serve  his  direct  purpose  of  glorifying  God  and  improving 
man !  Happy  and  holy  is  that  pulpit  from  which  on  each 
recurring  day  of  peace,  every  class  of  hearers,  learned  and 
unlearned,  rich  and  poor,  young  and  old,  sinner  and  saint,  find 
their  portion  of  meat  in  due  season ! 

A  sincere  and  anxious  purpose  to  do  good,  will  produce 
such  a  directness  better  than  all  the  rules  of  rhetorical  art. 
Yet  to  acquire  it  fully,  demands  much  study  and  fore- 
thought, much  observation  and  intimacy  with  the  lives  and 
hearts  of  men,  something  of  a  poetical  temperament,  but 
above  all  the  guiding  grace  of  Him,  who  knows  the  hearts 
of  his  creatures  and  made  and  orders  aU  things  for  their 
good. 

4.  His  fulness. 

It  was  the  witty  and  pregnant  advice  of  a  veteran  profess- 
or :  "  Never  to  speak  except  we  have  something  to  say."  Our 
ofiice  as  teachers  in  the  church,  our  seclusion  for  the  purpose 
of  preparation,  and  our  assumption  of  an  oratorical  attitude, 
warrant  the  expectation  of  the  people  to  hear  from  us  that 
which  shall  instruct  and  warm.  They  know  something  of 
divine  truth,  perhaps  much,  and  have  no  right  to  demand 


ELOQUENCE    OF   THE   PULPIT.  251 

from  us  curious  novelties,  for  novelties  in  religion  are  always 
error.  But  they  may  justly  look  for  truth  in  new  and  inter- 
esting forms.  They  come  to  learn  the  results  of  long  study 
and  meditation  and  prayer  condensed  into  the  brief  compass 
of  a  sermon.  Except  we  be  acquainted  thoroughly  with  our 
subject  as  a  whole  and  in  all  its  parts,  its  relations  and  conse- 
quences, the  errors  concerning  it,  and  the  contradictions 
against  it,  we  can  never  present  it  clearly  and  profitably  to 
others.  Our  thoughts  will  be  weak  and  timid,  and  our  style 
meagre  and  faltering,  for  the  plain  reason  that  we  distrust 
ourselves.  All  attempts  at  covering  this  poverty  and  uncer- 
tainty will  be  tumid  and  flatulent.  The  sermon  "  will  drag 
its  slow  length"  wearily  along,  and  the  hearer,  at  the  close, 
know  not,  whether  the  preacher  or  himself  is  most  to  be 
congratulated,  that  the  task  of  filling  up  so  many  minutes  is 
over.  But,  when  we  are  fully  prepared,  and  our  minds  are 
swelling  with  the  thoughts,  and  our  hearts  with  the  emotions 
our  subject  inspires,  until  there  is  a  fountain  head  of  ideas 
pressing  for  utterance  upon  our  lips,  there  will  be  an  earger- 
ness  to  speak,  and  a  manifest  consciousness  of  important  mat- 
ter to  declare,  that  is  eloquence  itself.  Our  words  will  flow 
freely  and  resolutely.  Then  there  is  no  need  of  reaching 
anxiously  after  irrelevant  things  to  fill  up  the  time ;  or  of 
playing  with  mere  words  till  by  some  happy  chance  we  pick 
up  an  idea.  We  are  avaricious  of  every  moment.  We  are 
unwilling  to  give  our  hearers  or  ourselves  any  leisure.  We 
are  impatient  even  of  illustrations,  which  we  admit  but  from 
necessity,  and  then  in  brief,  strong  terms,  weaving  them,  if 
possible,  into  our  arguments,  and  grudging  a  word  that  we 


252  ELOQUENCE    OP   THE    PULPIT. 

are  not  obliged  to  speak.  For  the  moment  an  orator  betrays 
an  inclination  to  linger,  that  he  may  dress  up  a  figure,  or 
round  his  period  gracefully,  he  shows  himself  more  anxious 
about  his  rhetoric  than  the  enforcement  of  truth,  and  so  loses 
our  respect  and  sympathy. 

This  fulness  is  very  remarkable  in  St.  Paul.  His  intro- 
ductions are  as  brief  as  possible,  consistently  with  reverence  for 
divine  things  and  Christian  courtesy.  Even  in  them  you  see 
the  foreshadowing  of  his  main  purpose.  He  never  labors  for 
thoughts,  but  for  words  to  express  rapidly  and  forcibly  enough 
the  workings  of  his  soul.  He  strides  on  like  a  giant  re- 
joicing in  his  strength.  His  every  epithet  adds  some  impor- 
tant idea ;  his  figures  never  delay,  but  always  advance  him 
towards  his  aim ;  and  you  feel  when  he  has  finished,  that,  so 
far  from  having  exhausted  himself,  he  could  have  expatiated 
forever  upon  his  divine  theme.  This  is  the  reason  of  his 
richness.  He  uses  no  tinsel  gilding ;  all  that  he  says,  is  pure, 
solid  gold,  studded  with  diamonds  of  price.  He  has  the  un- 
searchable treasures  of  divine  grace  at  his  command,  and  he 
expends  freely  as  he  has  received. 

Yet,  I  know  of  none  so  free  from  the  affectation  of  concise- 
ness. He  never  excludes  an  unnecessary  word,  but  on  the 
contrary  luxuriates  in  a  full  freedom  of  diction.  He  does  not 
hesitate  to  heap  epithet  upon  epithet,  name  upon  name,  term 
upon  term,  but  never  to  tautology.  Take  one  instance  from 
a  multitude  —  that  passage  in  the  first  chapter  of  Colossians, 
where  he  speaks  of  Him  into  whose  kingdom  believers  are 
translated  —  "  Who  is  the  image  of  the  invisible  God,  the  first- 
born of  every  creature ;  for  by  him  were  all  things  created, 


ELOQUENCE   OP   THE   PULPIT.  WB 

that  are  in  heaven  and  that  are  in  earth,  visible  and  invisible, 
whether  they  be  thrones  or  dominions,  or  principalities  or 
powers ;  all  things  were  created  by  him  and  for  him ;  and  he 
is  before  all  things  and  by  him  all  things  consist ;  and  he  is 
the  head  of  the  body,  the  church  ;  who  is  the  beginning,  the 
first-born  from  the  dead,  that  in  all  things  he  might  have  the 
preeminence ;  for  it  pleased  the  Father  that  in  him  should  all 
fulness  dwell."  Now  find  me  a  word  in  the  original  of  this 
that  you  would  willingly  omit,  that  does  not  add  force,  convey 
instruction,  and  aid  his  following  argument !  Yet  a  poorer 
writer  would  have  contented  himself  with  a  few,  and  proceeded 
deliberately  to  state  each  dignity  of  the  Son  of  God  in  a  sen- 
tence by  itself:  while  a  conceited  pretender  to  fulness  would 
have  abounded  only  in  verbosity,  pleonasm,  and  tautology. 

I  love  our  apostle's  long  sentences.  I  love  even  his  paren- 
theses within  parentheses.  It  is  the  grandeur  and  fulness  of 
his  thoughts  that  thus  burst  the  limits  that  are  set  for  ordinarj 
minds.  Turn  to  the  sentences  just  cited ;  or  that,  which  in- 
cludes nearly  all  of  the  first  and  second  chapters  of  Ephesians ; 
or  that  on  the  resurrection  in  the  XVth  of  1st  Corinthians ; 
cut  them  up  by  periods  into  shorter  divisions,  put  in  every 
noun,  verb  and  copulative,  and  roll  out  every  parenthesis  by 
itself,  and  see  if  you  have  not  robbed  them  of  all  the  fire,  much 
of  the  demonstration,  and  left  little  of  the  force.  I  am  aware 
that  much  advice  is  given  to  the  students  against  long  senten- 
ces, lest  they  become  obscure  and  diff"use.  Let  some  caution 
be  had  against  the  other  extreme.  Cicero  tells  us,  that  he 
never  heard  of  a  Lacedaemonian  orator  ;  and  much  as  we  ad- 
mired the  semper  instans  sihi  of  Thucydides,  most  of  us  could 

22 


254  ELOQUENCE    OF   THE   PULPIT. 

wish  that  he  were  more  easily  understood,  though  at  the  ex- 
pense of  some  concisesness.  From  the  diflBculty  of  reading 
him,  we  may  imagine  the  difficulty  of  hearing  him.  What  is 
well  in  the  calm  judicial  style  of  the  Attic  historian,  would 
never  answer  in  the  glowing  orator.  A  long  sentence  for  the 
sake  of  a  long  sentence,  or  from  an  inability  to  call  up  full  and 
expressive  words,  or  a  hesitating  doubt  how  to  conclude,  is 
affectation,  ignorance,  or  awkwardness.  But  if  there  be  a  tide 
in  our  souls,  there  should  be  a  flow  in  our  eloquence ;  nor 
should  we  dam  it  up  into  pools  by  too  frequent  periods.  A  dis- 
course made  up  of  brief  sentences  is  like  a  succession  of  aphor- 
isms. There  wants  a  closer  linking  of  them  together.  One 
or  two  would  be  very  impressive  ;  so  many  of  them  is  like  a 
rope  of  sand.  Besides,  such  sentences,  if  there  be  any  connec- 
tion in  the  preacher's  thoughts,  are  brief  only  in  appearance. 
He  has  separated  them  only  by  grammatical  forms  and  stops, 
weakening  but  not  destroying  their  relation  to  each  other ;  or 
he  gains  concisesness  at  the  expense  of  clearness,  by  leaving 
out  relatives  and  expletives,  and  confounding  us  with  unaccep- 
table ellipses.  To  avoid  a  parenthesis  (which  might  give  the 
necessary  exception  or  reference  in  an  instant)  he  must  be  at 
the  pains  to  arrest  the  current  of  his  thoughts,  and  fit  in  a  new 
entire  sentence,  nominative,  verb,  object,  and  all.  Much,  it  is 
true,  depends  upon  circumstances;  and  here  an  educated 
judgment  must  guide.  A  brief  sentence  often  flashes  truth 
like  lightning.  St.  Paul  has  many  such.  St.  James  excels 
in  them.  There  are  truths  which  must  be  stated  at  once. 
They  are  sublime  in  their  simplicity,  clear  in  their  unity. 
Some  minds  cannot  run,  but  creep  carefully  along  with  inglori- 


ELOQUENCE    OF   THE    PULPIT.  2S& 

ous  safety,  where  others  leap  and  fly.  Physical  weakness 
and  a  laboring  breath  unfit  us  for  a  lengthened  effort.  But 
when  the  orator  has  it  within  him,  he  should  let  his  soul  soar 
and  expand  in  majestic  liberty.  It  is  no  time  to  practice  the 
precision  of  the  fencing  school  in  the  thick  fight.  Genius, 
well  trained,  is  its  own  best  rule.  The  orator,  who  betrays 
his  art,  has  lost  its  best  advantage.  He  may  know  how  ac- 
cording to  theory,  he  ought  to  be  successful,  but  with  mere 
elegant  correctness  he  will  be  like  Phelereus :  iUe  eruditis- 
simus  quidem  omnium,  sed  non  tarn,  armis  institutus  quam 
palcestra.* 

Store  your  memory  with  good  language ;  practise  correct- 
ness with  a  severe  and  diligent  pen ;  see  to  it  before  you 
attempt  to  speak,  that  you  know  your  own  order,  and  that  it 
is  good ;  fill  your  mind  to  overflowing  from  the  divine  oracles ; 
invoke  the  Holy  Spirit  to  fill  your  heart  with  the  love  of  Grod ; 
then  lift  up  the  flood-gates  and  pour  it  forth. 

Some  call  our  apostle  obscure,  involved,  irregular.  They 
do  not  know  him.  Happy  were  we,  could  we  so  err  with 
him.  His  eloquence  is  no  shallow,  babbling  brook,  no  stag- 
nant pool ;  but  a  broad,  deep,  rapid  river,  with  the  winds  of 
the  Spirit  sweeping  its  waves,  that  break  dazzlingly  in  the 
beams  of  the  Sun  of  righteousness,  while  the  waters  are  pure 
as  the  fountain  of  God,  and  bear  to  the  ages  to  come  the 
manifold  wisdom  of  his  grace.  Stand  on  the  bank,  and  it 
sweeps  by  too  swiftly  to  reveal  its  depths.  Launch  boldly 
on  its  tide,  and  you  shall  be  borne  onward  to  God  and  glory. 

*  Cic.  Brutus,  9. 


256  eloquence  of  the  pulpit. 

5.  His  Energy. 

Energy  is,  properly,  power  in  exercise.  By  the  energy  of 
a  Preacher,  I  mean  the  force  with  which  he  employs  his  va- 
rious talents  to  make  us  feel  the  truth.  It  is  not  a  single 
faculty,  but  the  strength  of  his  soul  bearing  upon  ours.  It 
must  come  from  his  soul.  It  cannot  be  counterfeited.  To 
make  others  feel,  we  must  feel  ourselves.  All  authorities 
agree  in  the  necessity  of  energy  to  the  true  orator.  It  is  the 
life  of  eloquence,  that  which  gives  it  breath  and  fire  and 
power.  "Without  it  the  most  finished  rhetoric  is  formal  and 
cold.  The  people  (and  it  is  for  them  we  preach)  love  it.  It 
is  a  sign  of  honesty  in  the  speaker.  He  would  subdue  us  by 
a  mastery  he  acknowledges  himself.  It  is  not  he,  but  the 
truth  which  makes  us  captive.  He  is  but  the  instrument, 
though  a  willing,  ardent  one.  Men  have  a  strong  passion  for 
excitement,  and  energy  always  produces  it.  We  yield  more 
readily  to  sympathy  than  to  logic  or  persuasion. 

It  does  not  necessarily  imply  vehemence.  There  is  energy 
in  deep  pathos,  in  simple  description,  nay,  sometimes  in  silence 
itself  Whatever  subdues  us,  makes  us  feel,  impels  our  pas- 
sions, has  energy.  Who  can  add  force  to  those  two  words : 
"Jesus  wept?"  Could  the  sacred  writer  have  made  us  feel 
the  submissive  grief  of  the  bereaved  father,  more  than  he  has 
by  that  brief  sentence :  "  Aaron  held  his  peace  ?  "  When 
St.  Paul  asks :  "  if  God  be  for  us,  who  can  be  against  us  ?  " 
How  impressive  the  absence  of  an  answer !  It  is  a  challenge 
none  dare  reply  to. 

Energy  is  very  different  from  declamation.  The  energetic 
orator,  while  he  may  seem  to  declaim,  demonstrates  with 


ELOQUENCE    OF   THE  PULPIT.  257 

greater  force.  You  see  this  in  Demosthenes.  His  logic  is 
perfect,  but  he  discovers  no  art.  He  tells  his  auditors  what 
they  ought  to  know,  what  needs  no  proof,  but  what  every  noble 
feeling  should  make  them  own  and  act  accordingly.  Now  he 
is  anxious  for  their  safety,  now  for  their  glory  ;  now  he  dis- 
trusts, now  he  praises  them  ;  he  stirs  up  their  hatred  of  tyrants, 
he  appeals  to  their  love  of  freedom.  His  energy  transfuses 
to  their  bosoms  the  emotions  of  his  own. 

It  is  greatly  assisted  by  judicious  apostrophe.  Imagination 
then  brings  before  us  the  apostrophized  beings  (sometimes 
even  inanimate  objects)  as  witnesses,  pleaders,  judges.  We 
feel  the  power  of  their  presence,  their  censure,  their  praise, 
their  authority.  Take  this  example,  quoted  from  memory  out 
of  a  sermon  by  the  younger  Waugh :  "  The  value  of  the 
soul  —  who  can  tell  it  ?  Angels  know  it  not,  they  never  fell. 
Devils  know  it  not.  Their  sufferings  are  never  at  an  end. 
Son  of  God,  thou  knowest  it,  for  thou  didst  pay  its  price  ! " 
Yet  apostrophe  must  not  be  frequent,  for  the  plain  reason,  that 
the  hearer  would  be  distracted  from  the  main  subject  by  such 
repeated  diversions.  In  the  passage  just  quoted,  were  we  to 
make  three  apostrophes,  as  :  "  Angels,  do  ye  know  it  ?  Devils, 
do  ye  know  it  ? "  the  appeal  to  the  Son  of  God  at  the  close 
would  be  tame. 

To  be  energetic  the  apostrophe  should  appear  unstudied, 
and  from  the  impulse  of  the  moment.  It  should  be  perfectly 
within  our  power.  Nothing  is  more  ridiculous  than  a  preach- 
er appealing  in  words  to  an  invisible  being,  while  he  keeps 
his  eyes  fixed  upon  the  paper,  speaks  on  in  his  ordinary  tone, 
and  perhaps  hesitates  until  he  turns  the  leaf.     An  apostrophe 

22* 


258  ELOQUENCE    OP   THE   PULPIT. 

is  better  brief.  It  should  very  rarely  be  long.  It  is  impossi- 
ble to  maintain  the  illusion  beyond  a  few  moments.  The  best 
orator  would  fail  in  continuing  the  effort.  Some  should  never 
attempt  apostrophe.  They  have  not  imagination  enough  to 
conceive  it  well,  or,  if  it  be  conceived,  not  the  voice  nor  com- 
mand of  action  to  execute  it.  Failure  in  either  disgraces  us. 
If  we  be  not  sure  of  success,  it  were  far  better  to  let  it 
alone. 

Dialogue,  of  which  we  have  some  good  examples  in  the 
ancients  (as  the  first  of  whom  we  rank  our  apostle),  is  yet 
more  difficult  to  manage.  If  it  be  supposed  between  the 
preacher  and  his  hearers,  he  making  for  them  their  replies  or 
putting  questions  to  himselfj  it  may  be  carried  on  for  a  little 
time,  but  not  long  well.  The  repeated  changes  of  voice  neces- 
sary to  give  it  effect,  break  the  flow  and  force  of  his  elocution. 
If  it  be  supposed  between  two  other  persons,  the  preacher 
must  become  an  actor.  He  must  assume  the  language  and 
versatile  tone  of  conversation.  He  loses  the  character  of  an 
orator,  and  will  find  it  difficult  to  assume  it  again.  Few  can 
be  thus  histrionic  without  great  loss  of  dignity,  which  is  always 
a  loss  of  energy.  "When  they  afterward  would  be  real,  the 
people  think  them  still  acting.  It  is  painful  to  know  that  such 
a  perversion  of  the  true  style  for  the  pulpit  has  been  much 
attempted  of  late,  especially  by  wandering  preachers  bent 
upon  getting  up  immediate  excitement,  rather  than  permanent 
usefulness.  In  some  instances  they  have  played  downright 
farces  in  the  house  of  God.  Ludicrous  and  low  familiarities 
have  been  put  into  the  mouths  of  supposed  persons  ;  nay,  the 
devil  has  been  called  from  the  pit,  the  glorified  saints  from 


ELOQUENCE   OP   THE   PULPIT.  259 

heaven,  even  (liorribile  dictu !)  the  Holy  God  himself,  to  play 
parts  in  the  wretched  scene.  Miserable  preachers !  Mise- 
rable men !  How  dare  ye  thus  trifle  ?  How  dare  ye  thus 
blaspheme? —  "It  awakens  attention." — "  It  impresses."  —  "It 
is  successful  in  doing  good."  Impressive !  Successful !  O 
thou  holy,  solemn  Jesus !  Can  a  soul  that  has  resisted  thy 
love,  thy  tears,  thy  pangs,  thy  dying  cries,  be  laughed  into 
repentance  ? 

An  energetic  speaker  will  sometimes  exclaim  with  great 
effect.  Garrick  declared  that  Whitfield's  "  Oh  ! "  was  more 
impressive  than  it  was  possible  to  imagine.  Exclamations  of 
grief,  pity,  love,  abhorrence,  wonder,  will  burst  from  a  full  soul 
that  cannot  wait  to  syllable  words.  Nature  has  supplied  them 
for  this.  Paul  has  many  such,  but  never  one  in  vain.  Yet 
these  may  be  repeated  too  often,  and  then  they  become  idle, 
if  not  worse,  betraying  weakness  in  the  preacher  as  unable  to 
articulate  his  emotions,  or  hypocrisy  in  pretending  what  he 
does  not  feel.  Truly  eloquent  as  President  Davies  was,  his 
frequent  ohs  !  and  ahs  !  and  similar  cries  disfigure  his  precious 
pages. 

Energy  depends  much  on  the  choice  of  words.  Sometimes 
a  brief  one  is  essentially  necessary  to  force,  sometimes  a  full 
polysyllable  gives  great  grandeur.  Good  taste  must  select. 
It  is  told  of  Robert  Hall,  that  he  preached  his  famous  sermon 
on  modern  infidelity  before  it  was  written.  A  short-hand 
writer  of  great  skill  took  down  the  words  from  his  lips.  He 
read  his  full  notes  to  the  orator  with  much  approbation  until 
he  came  to  that  energetic  appeal :  "  Eternal  God !  on  what 
are  thine  enemies  intent  ?     What  are  those  enterprises  of  guilt 


260  ELOQUENCE    OF   THE   PULPIT. 

and  horror,  that  for  the  safety  of  their  performers  require  to 
be  enveloped  in  a  darkness  which  the  eye  of  heaven  cannot 
penetrated  "  Penetrate,  sir  !  "  he  exclaimed,  "  1  never  said 
penetrate.  The  word  is  too  long.  I  could  not  have  waited 
for  it, — pierce^  sir,  write  piercer  Perhaps  Mr.  Hall's  style 
would  bear  a  little  more  of  such  criticism.  We  find  a  good 
example  of  the  other  in  this  magnificent  sentence  of  Richard 
Allestree  when  speaking  of  the  early  martyrs,  he  says  :  "  God's 
furnace  made  their  crowns  splendid,  gave  them  a  majesty  of 
shine  and  an  imperial  glory."*  How  the  very  cadence  of  that 
word  "  imperial "  magnifies  the  thought ! 

Energy  rarely  needs  noise,  though  a  full,  clear,  round  tone 
should  prevail.  There  are  times  when  extreme  loudness,  so 
that  the  voice  does  not  break,  is  necessary,  as  in  the  prophet, 
"  0  earth  !  earth  !  earth  !  hear  the  word  of  the  Lord."  The 
whole  earth  cannot  hear  a  gentle  tone.  Yet  we  have  all  felt 
the  power  of  a  whisper  or  deep  low  utterance,  distinctly  giv- 
ing forth  some  earnest  sentence.  Talma,  the  French  Master 
of  the  Stage,  declared  that  he  studied  forty  years  to  be  ener- 
getic without  noise.  Deep  emotion  is  averse  to  noise,  except 
it  becomes  frantic,  and  a  preacher  should  never  rave.  It  is 
majestic,  melting,  terrible  in  "  a  still,  small  voice."  The  vo- 
ciferation of  many  of  our  preachers  has  no  more  eloquence  in 
it  than  the  roaring  of  Bashan's  bulls. 

Rapidity  impairs  it.  There  should  be  no  hurry.  A  good 
speaker  becomes  slower  as  he  grows  energetic.  He  gives 
every  word  its  full  effect.  He  pauses  insensibly  to  allow  each 
thought  to  settle  in  the  mind,  and  to  gather  strength  for  a  new 

*  Richard  Allestree,  Sermon  1st. 


ELOQUENCE    OF   THE   PULPIT.  261 

effort.  Hurry  is  never  dignified,  and,  whatever  be  his  emo- 
tion, the  true  orator  never  bemeans  himself.  The  rapid  speak- 
er is  either  inarticulate  or  runs  on  trippingly  in  a  light  man- 
ner. There  must  be  some  surprising  excellence  in  other 
respects  to  render  such  a  preacher  tolerable. 

Gesture  is  essential  to  energetic  speaking,  but  then  the 
gesture  should  be  in  its  place,  prompt  to  the  thought,  natural, 
strong  yet  graceful.  It  ought  to  be  instinctive,  but  the  instinct 
regulated  by  intelligent  practice.  Too  much  gesture  impairs 
the  effect  of  all.  Too  little  is  inconsistent  with  nature,  which 
expresses  emotion  by  such  external  signs.  Strong  action  must 
be  reserved  for  strong  passages  ;  at  other  times  it  should  be 
easy  and  quiet.  Generally  violence  is  offensive  because  ex- 
travagant ;  but  we  have  Cicero's  praise  of  Anthony  as  excel- 
lent in  his  manner :  "  Gestus  erat  non  verba  exprimens  sed  cum 
sententiis  congruens,  manus,  humeri,  latera,  supplosio  pedis, 
status,  incessus  omnisque  motus  cum  verbis  et  sententiis  con- 
sentiens."*  Good  gesture  is  very  much  impeded  by  the  shape 
of  our  pulpits,  which  forbid  the  long  descending  sweep,  arrest 
the  hand  by  the  cushion  and  so  drive  it  above  the  head,  which 
is  rarely  decorous.  The  true  position  for  an  orator  is  stand- 
ing forth  free,  without  notes,  without  any  screen.  Demos- 
thenes himself  would  have  failed,  had  he  spoken  out  of 
Diogenes'  tub,  from  which  many  of  our  pulpits  seem  to  have 
been  fashioned.  Yet  with  all  our  difficulties,  it  is  most  strange 
that  good  action  is  so  rare,  when  it  is  visible  in  every  excited 
child,  and  in  any  man  arguing  with  his  neighbor  on  the  side- 
walk.    Let  nature  dictate,  but  let  us  be  sure  that  it  is  nature. 

*  Cic.  Brutus,  38. 


262  ELOQUENCE    OF   THE   PULPIT. 

The  manner  of  the  pulpit  has  become  so  unnatural,  that  a 
natural  speaker  is  condemned  by  the  many  as  theatrical. 
"What  is  called  a  preaching  manner  is  the  very  worst  we  could 
adopt. 

Expression  of  countenance  is  essential  to  energy  in  the 
preacher.  "Without  it  we  are  but  as  speaking  automata,  beat- 
ing the  air  by  machinery.  The  eye,  the  brow,  the  lips,  even 
the  nostrils  should  speak,  for  such  is  the  first  and  universal 
language  of  nature.  But  how  can  we  give  rules  for  an  ex- 
pression that  must  beam  from  the  soul  ?  What  need  of  ad- 
vising those,  whose  countenances  in  the  pulpit  are  ever  down- 
ward with  their  eyes  fixed  upon  their  notes !  It  is  impossible 
for  a  close  reader  to  be  an  eloquent  or  energetic  orator.  He 
has  too  much  to  do  in  taking  care  of  his  papers,  and  decipher- 
ing his  manuscript.  The  more  free  we  are  from  notes,  the 
more  likely  to  be  energetic. 

Energy  should  be  accrescent.  A  speaker  ought  to  be  in 
earnest  from  the  very  beginning,  his  anxious,  determined, 
solemn  air  manifesting  that  he  is  full  of  an  important  message 
and  eager  to  do  good.  Yet  his  energy  should  gradually  rise 
in  thought,  language,  and  manner.  His  hearers  are  not  pre- 
pared to  sympathize  with  him  at  once ;  and,  then,  his  vehe- 
mence appears  im^jc-rtinent.  It  is  far  better  to  win  their 
attention  by  a  gentler  method;  nay,  even  to  lull  them,  hus- 
banding all  our  resources  of  power  until  their  ears  are  fairly 
ours,  and  then  to  sweep  them  on  with  us,  never  suffering  them 
to  flag.  Some  have  the  talent  of  taking  an  audience  by  storm, 
but  it  is  very  difiicult  to  keep  up  the  excitement,  and  in  a 
failure  to  do  so,  the  thoughts  that  follow  are  made  to  seem 


ELOQUENCE    OF   THE   PULPIT.  263 

weaker  than  they  really  are  by  the  contrast.  There  should 
be  a  continual  ascent  to  the  close,  that  close  being  the  most 
impressive  of  all.  There  is  no  need  of  recapitulating  all  the 
points.  Choose  the  stronger —  urge  them  in  different  and  more 
earnest  language.  Appeal,  beseech,  assert,  as  if  your  whole 
soul  were  bent  upon  the  salvation  of  those  who  hear  you,  and 
upon  the  glory  of  God  for  whom  you  speak.  Be  sure  that 
the  final  sentence  leaves  every  soul  vibrating  like  a  swept 
harp. 

The  two  modern  schools  of  pulpit  eloquence  are  the  French 
and  the  English ;  at  least  these  have  the  most  followers. 
They  differ  like  the  genius  of  their  nations.  The  English 
grave,  solid,  sententious  and  argumentative.  The  French  ar- 
dent, impulsive,  passionate :  though  certainly  a  few  among 
them,  as  Bourdaloue  and  Bridaine,  have  a  grandeur  and  pa- 
thos beyond  any  of  their  insular  neighbors.  Nothing  can  be 
sweeter  than  the  pleadings  of  Fenelon,  and  Massillon  search- 
es and  lays  bare  the  heart  like  an  anatomist.  Bossuet,  I  am 
constrained  to  say,  I  cannot  so  much  admire.  His  fame  rests 
mainly  on  his  panegyrics,  no  enviable  distinction  for  a  preach- 
er of  the  Gospel.  It  is,  however,  due  to  him  to  say,  that  his 
great  eloquence  revived  the  power  of  the  pulpit  in  France, 
and  that  his  energy  may  be  studied  with  profit.  I  would  be 
far  from  giving  the  credit  of  superior  evangelical  energy  to 
the  French  school.  The  English  are  as  far  beyond  them  in 
real  power  of  thought,  as  the  French  excel  in  energy  of 
manner.  The  first  triumph  over  our  reason,  and  their  influ- 
ence is  permanent.  The  other  over  our  passions  without 
fixing  our  principles.     We  are  compelled  to  think  by  the 


264  ELOQUENCE    OF   THE   PULPIT. 

English ;  we  only  weep  or  wonder  with  the  French.  The 
restraints  of  Eoman  Catholic  rule  over  religious  opinion,  have 
undoubtedly  had  a  great  share  in  this,  for  we  find  Saurin  at 
the  Hague  reasoning  as  mightily  as  any  Briton  of  them  all. 
Yet  by  far  the  greater  part  of  the  French  orators  are  absurd- 
ly vehement ;  their  quick  starts,  their  repeated  exclamations, 
their  constant  strain  after  effect  are  unworthy  the  pulpit  or 
the  tribune.  The  English,  on  the  contrary,  want  earnestness. 
They  are  not  orators  so  much  as  essayists  and  teachers.  Their 
sermons  are  written  to  be  read  rather  than  spoken.  They 
have  a  characteristic  affectation  of  composure  in  the  pulpit 
untrue  to  nature,  and  savoring  of  their  ecclesiastical  assump- 
tions, and  excessive  attachment  to  form  and  usage.  The 
Dissenters  have  less  of  it,  though  even  they  cannot  shake  off 
the  hauteur  that  seems  born  with  an  Englishman. 

The  Scotch  are  very  strong,  intense,  and  especially  rich  in 
Scripture,  but  they  lack  grace.  In  this  I  do  not  include  Blair 
or  Allison,  who  are  in  faults  and  merits  rather  English  than 
Scotch. 

The  Irish  manner  has  been  justly  condemned  as  florid  and 
hyperbolical.  Yet  Ireland  has  given  England  her  best  ora- 
tors. Her  eloquence  is  successful ;  the  best  proof  of  power, 
and  that  power  lies  in  its  fervid  energy, 

A  system  for  cultivating  energetic  oratory  should  be  ec- 
lectic from  all  these.  Could  we  combine  soundness  with 
ardor,  natural  earnestness  with  severe  thought,  the  divine 
with  the  orator ;  in  a  word,  could  we  acquire  that  resistless 
and  majestic  energy  which  clothes  our  apostle  with  his  holy 
caution  and  accuracy  of  truth,  we  should  reach  the  high- 


ELOQUENCE    OF   THE   PULPIT.  265 

est  style  of  eloquence  to  which  the  Christian  preacher  can 
aspire. 

I  have  given  no  illustrations  of  St.  Paul's  energy.  There 
is  no  need.  You  have  read  him  and  have  felt  it.  Study 
him  and  imitate. 


To  make  the  example  of  our  holy  apostle  useful  to  us  in 
the  best  degree,  we  must  look  within  the  external  qualities  of 
his  noble  eloquence,  to  those  divine  graces,  which  animated, 
directed  and  sustained  his  cultivated  genius.  They  give  him 
that  supernatural  charm  and  spiritual  power,  without  which 
aU  his  rhetoric  would  be  poor  and  vain  to  win  our  hearts.  I 
do  not  now  allude  merely  to  the  divine  afflMus  we  technically 
term  inspiration,  which  breathed  by  the  Holy  Ghost  through 
all  the  faculties  of  his  soul,  so  ordered  all  his  thoughts  and 
superintended  even  his  words,  that  what  he  declared  was 
the  very  truth  of  God.  That  extraordinary  gift  of  the  Spirit 
cannot  be  ours  except  so  far  as  we  make  known  the  truth  as 
it  is  in  Jesus,  and  thus  transfer  to  our  own  the  inspiration  of 
Scriptural  language.  He  was  inspired  as  an  apostle,  but  he 
was  also  sanctified  as  a  Christian,  and  those  virtues  and  affec- 
tions wrought  by  the  adorable  Sanctifier  in  every  true  child 
of  God,  which  as  the  eflFects  of  grace  are  called  Christian 
graces,  and  are  given  to  all  who  cultivate  them  by  the  means 
of  God's  appointments,  may  furnish  us  as  they  did  him  with 
the  motives,  zeal,  and  attributes  of  a  devoted  and  (by  God's 
blessing)  successful  ministry.  He  himself  gave  us  a  summary 
of  these  graces  when  he  wrote  to  the  Corinthian  brethren. 

23 


266  ELOQUENCE    OF   THE   PULPIT. 

"  Now  abideth  these  three,  Faith,  Hope,  Charity ;  and  the 
greatest  of  these  is  charity."  Truly  did  they  abide  in  his  holy, 
vigorous,  and  ardent  soul. 

Paul's  FAITH  was  vital.  It  was  the  life  of  his  religion  and 
apostleship,  as  he  testifies  of  himself  in  words  we  know  to  be 
true ;  "  The  life  which  I  now  live  in  the  flesh,  I  live  by  the 
faith  of  the  Son  of  God,  who  loved  me,  and  gave  himself  for 
me."  It  was  active  faith,  working  in  him  by  love ;  transform- 
ing, purifying  his  heart ;  and  victoriously  dominant,  over- 
coming the  world. 

He  copied  from  his  own  experience  and  consciousness,  when 
he  defined  faith  to  be  "  the  substance  of  things  hoped  for,  and 
the  evidence  of  things  not  seen."  When  he  gave  up  all  that 
the  carnal  heart  loves  for  all  that  the  spiritual  heart  desires,  he 
"  knew  in  whom  he  had  believed,  and  that  he  was  able  to  keep 
all  he  had  committed  unto  him."  This  gives  such  strong  confi- 
dence to  all  his  assertions.  You  can  discern  in  him  no  wa- 
vering, no  hesitancy,  no  supposition  nor  conjecture.  He 
always  speaks  like  one  sure  of  truth  in  what  he  says ;  and 
as  sure  that  the  truth  of  Jesus  is  immeasurably  above  all  else 
the  mind  can  contemplate.  We  feel  that  his  declarations  are 
not  dogmatism,  but  the  utterings  of  full  warranted  conviction. 
The  great  facts  and  events  of  redemption  are  with  him 
scarcely  in  the  past  or  future,  but  present,  visible,  tangible, 
grasped.  When  he  speaks  of  the  cross,  it  is  as  though  he  stood 
at  its  foot  beholding  at  once  the  passion  of  his  Lord  and  the 
glory  of  the  atonement.  If  he  speaks  of  the  intercession,  it  is 
as  though  the  heavens  were  opened,  and  he  saw  Jesus  before 
the  throne  and  prayed  with  his  Master's  pleading  speech ;  if 


ELOQUENCE    OF   THE    PULPIT.  267 

of  the  resurrection,  the  trumpet  of  the  ai-changel  and  the  voice 
of  God  are  as  it  were  sounding  in  his  ears,  the  sheeted  dead 
bursting  their  sepulchi-es,  and  the  living  Christians  rising 
through  the  air.  The  Holy  Ghost  is  not  afar  off,  but  a  di- 
vinity within  him.  He  has  an  actual  fellowship  with  the 
Father  and  his  Son  Jesus  Christ.  His  conversation  is  al- 
ready in  the  heaven  he  anticipates.  The  innumerable  angels 
company  around  him,  and  even  in  the  flesh  he  is  come  to 
Mount  Ziou  and  the  triumphant  church  of  the  first-born.  This 
is  a  high  pitch  of  faith,  but  we  must  reach  it,  before  we  can 
attain  to  the  authoritative  power  of  his  eloquent  truth. 

The  reliance  of  his  faith  was  complete  upon  the  sufficiency 
of  the  Gospel  as  the  means  of  salvation.  He  wants  nothing 
but  the  Gospel  —  no  philosophy  of  human  invention,  no  false 
ornament,  above  all,  no  mechanical  contrivance  to  trick  men 
as  it  were  into  repentance,  or  lift  them  over  the  stumbling 
block  of  the  cross.  Bodily  exercises  were  to  him  silly  and 
profane  intrusions  upon  the  spirituality  of  Christ's  religion ; 
and  very  far  was  he  from  that  pernicious  Jesuistry  too  com- 
mon among  Protestants,  of  converting  the  Gospel  to  men's 
wicked  prejudices  for  the  sake  of  swelling  the  number  of 
nominal  converts  to  the  Gospel.  There  is  his  crowning  ex- 
cellence, Christ,  Christ,  none  but  Christ ;  Christ  as  a  teacher, 
Christ  as  a  priest,  Christ  as  a  king,  Christ  the  wisdom  of 
God,  Christ  the  power  of  God,  Christ  all  and  in  all.  "With- 
out Christ  he  never  thought  to  succeed,  and  seeming  success, 
except  through  Christ,  was  a  mocking  vanity.  0  my  friends, 
this  is  what  we  need.  It  is  to  be  baptized  in  Christ,  to  breathe 
Christ  in  every  sentence.     Too  often  is  Christ  excluded  by 


268  ELOQUENCE    OF   THE   PULPIT. 

his  own  ministers  from  his  own  pulpit.  There  have  been 
and  I  fear  still  are,  sermons  preached  by  those  who  claim  a 
high  orthodoxy,  in  which  the  name  of  Jesus  has  not  been 
found,  and  his  cross,  his  throne,  his  intercession  and  his  glory, 
have  been  thrust  aside  for  wire-drawn  speculation,  and  am- 
bitious novelty.  I  know  that  I  am  repeating  what  I  have 
said  before,  but  let  me  repeat  again  and  again  what  our  apostle 
loved  to  repeat  so  often,  that  the  cross  is  the  grand  attractive 
of  our  blessed  rehgion,  and  that  we  fail  in  faith  and  must  fail 
in  real  usefulness,  when  we  allow  any  expedient  to  carry  us 
off  from  our  only  true  trust  as  Christians  and  ministers  of  the 
grace  of  life. 

Paul's  HOPE  was  strong  and  incessant  as  his  faith.  It  was 
the  natural  fruit,  nay,  we  may  say  in  a  certain  sense,  the  ex- 
ercise of  it. 

He  hoped  for  success  ;  not  in  that  exacting,  dictating,  pre- 
scribing spirit,  which  demands  visible,  immediate  success  of  a 
certain  kind  as  the  condition  of  our  zeal  and  perseverance. 
But  he  believed  that  God  had  called  him  to  his  work ;  he  be- 
lieved the  truth  mighty  against  all  error ;  he  believed  the 
promise  of  the  Spirit  that  God's  word  must  accomphsh  that 
whereunto  he  sent  it ;  he  believed  that  God's  wisest,  best, 
highest  glory  would  abound  through  the  preaching  of  His 
own  Gospel ;  and  for  that  glory  he  lived,  labored,  suffered,  and 
was  willing  to  die.  Therefore  he  was  fuU  of  a  hope  that 
could  not  be  made  ashamed,  for  he  knew  that  whether  his 
preaching  was  a  savor  of  life  or  of  death,  whether  men  heard 
or  forbore  to  hear,  God  would  have  praise  throughout  all 
ages,  and  that  was  the  success  he  longed  to  obtain.     He  was 


ELOQUENCE    OF   THE   PULPIT.  269 

God's  servant,  bound  to  work  for  him  in  all  circumstances.  It 
was  his  earnest  desire  that  he  might  win  souls  for  Christ,  and 
he  had  a  warrant  for  hoping  that  he  should  see  some  success 
in  the  conversion  of  sinners  and  the  edification  of  saints  yet, 
having  done  aU  in  his  power  to  persuade  men  to  be  recon- 
ciled unto  God,  he  could  commit  the  cause  he  loved  to  Him 
who  alone  is  efficient  for  good,  and  who  ever  judgeth  right- 
eously. He  greatly  rejoiced  to  see  the  work  of  the  Lord 
prospering  in  his  hands,  but  he  would  have  wrought  on  like 
his  Master  "  the  despised  and  rejected  of  men,"  though  "  aU 
day  long  he  had  stretched  forth  his  hand  and  no  man  regard- 
ed." 

The  apostle  hoped  for  his  reward,  not  because  of  any  merit 
in  his  zeal,  but  of  free  grace  purchased  by  Christ  and  treas- 
ured up  in  him  for  every  faithful  servant  of  his  Gospel.  The 
great  example  to  whom  he  looked  was  Jesus,  "  who  for  the 
joy  that  was  set  before  him  endured  the  cross,  despising  the 
shame,  and  is  set  down  at  the  right  hand  of  the  throne  of 
God."  That  which  God  promised,  and  proposed  as  a  motive 
to  his  devotion  he  did  not  forbid  himself  to  desire ;  but,  on 
the  contrary,  the  contemplation  of  his  crown,  his  palm,  his 
harp  in  glory  filled  him  with  the  most  ravishing  delight,  and 
urged  him  to  new  and  still  increasing  efforts  to  attain  unto 
that  for  which  he  was  apprehended  of  Christ.  He  lived  in- 
deed for  God's  glory,  but  according  to  the  blessed  scheme  of 
redemption  he  saw  his  own  eternal  joy  in  that  glory.  He 
lived  for  Christ  and  he  knew  that  to  die  was  gain,  for  he 
should  be  partaker  of  Christ's  glory  as  he  was  in  his  suffer- 
ings. Therefore  we  find  him,  when  pressed  by  trouble  and 
23* 


270  ELOQUENCE    OF  THE  PULPIT. 

danger,  looking  forward  with  joyful  hope  beyond  time  and 
the  grave ;  reckoning  that  "  the  sorrows  of  this  present  time 
are  not  worthy  to  be  compared  with  the  glory  that  shall  be 
revealed  in  tis ;"  nay,  that  "  our  light  afflictions,  which  are 
but  for  a  moment,  shall  work  out  for  us  a  far  more  exceeding 
and  eternal  weight  of  glory ;  for  we  look,"  saith  he,  "  not  upon 
the  things  that  are  seen,  but  the  things  that  are  not  seen  ;  for 
the  things  which  are  seen  are  temporal,  but  the  things  that 
are  not  seen  are  eternal." 

The  joy  of  the  Redeemer's  reward  he  knew  would  be  in 
the  eternal  blessedness  of  His  redeemed  family ;  that  He 
would  "  see  of  the  travail  of  his  soul  and  be  satisfied,"  when 
He  should  look  from  His  blood-bought  throne  over  the  ten 
thousand  times  ten  thousand  thousand  of  His  church  all  ra- 
diant in  His  own  image,  and  know  that  among  the  host  there 
is  not  one  stain  upon  their  consciences,  one  pang  in  their 
hearts,  one  doubt  in  their  minds,  but  that  aU  are  happy,  holy 
as  Himself,  and  He  made  them  so.  Among  that  ransomed 
throng,  reflecting  as  in  a  mirror  the  glory  of  his  Lord,  he 
hoped  to  stand,  and  sing  and  admire.  Paul  hoped  to  enter 
into  this  very  joy  of  his  Master ;  to  see  the  fruit,  through 
grace,  of  his  own  ministry,  the  children  for  whom  his  own 
soul  had  travailed ;  to  know  that  many  among  those  shining 
ones  had  been  converted  through  his  words,  guided  by  his 
counsels,  and  made  wise  by  his  teachings ;  and  as  the  thunder- 
ing hallelujah,  loud  and  musical  as  the  voice  of  many  waters, 
rolls  up  its  flood  of  harmony  that  breaks  at  the  foot  of  the 
throne,  to  recognize  among  the  choristers  those  whom  he  first 
taught  to  lisp  the  praises  of  Almighty  love.     Yes,  he  regard- 


ELOQUENCE    OF  THE   PULPIT.  271 

fed  them  as  not  only  in  time,  but  throughout  eternity,  his 
"  dearly  beloved  and  longed  for,  his  joy  and  his  crown ;"  for 
he  says  to  a  company  of  his  spiritual  children  :  "  What  is  our 
hope,  or  joy,  or  crown  of  rejoicing  ?  Are  not  even  ye  in  the 
presence  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  at  his  coming  ?  For  ye 
are  our  glory  and  our  joy." 

Indeed,  throughout  the  New  Testament  we  must  remark 
the  close  connection  between  hope  and  earnest,  steady  Chris- 
tian principle.  The  motives  of  the  Christian,  his  great  en- 
couragements to  faithful  endurance  and  constant  zeal,  are  to 
be  brought  from  eternity  and  heaven.  We  live  Christian 
lives  only  as  we  live  lor  eternity.  It  is  a  bringing  down  and 
a  perverting  of  the  Gospel  from  its  chief  purpose,  when  we 
use  it  merely  as  a  rectifier  of  social  morality  and  an  occasion 
of  joy  or  sorrow  in  this  life.  These  blessings  it  does  indeed 
partially  bestow,  but  ever  mostly  and  best  when  we  seek  only 
after  heaven.  They  are  only  as  the  few  rich  clusters  brought 
by  the  spies  to  the  tribes  in  the  desert  compared  with  the  full 
vintage  on  the  other  side  of  Jordan.  We  have  no  right  to 
expect  anything  but  trouble  and  trial,  and  arduous  labor  here ; 
all  our  comforts  are  but  faint  earnests,  dim  types,  and  shadowy 
glimpses,  to  set  us  a  longing  after  "  the  inheritance  incorrupt- 
ible, undefiled,  and  that  fadeth  not  away."  Next  to  the  con- 
straining love  of  God  in  Christ,  the  most  powerful  argument 
of  the  Gospel,  and  of  our  apostle  as  its  preacher,  is  the 
contrast  of  eternal  things  with  those  of  time.  A  heathen 
philosopher  taught  that  "  the  end  of  all  wisdom  is  to  learn 
how  to  die ;"  let  us,  full  of  the  hope  of  the  glory  of  God, 
imitate  Paul  in  teaching  our  fellow  sinners   that  the  best 


272  ELOQUENCE    OF  THE   PULPIT. 

wisdom  is   to   learn   how  to   live    forever   in  holiness   and 

joy- 

"  The  greatest  of  these  is  charity,"  said  our  apostle. 
Greatest  it  is,  because  the  fruit,  the  blessed  consummation  and 
triumph  of  all.  Greatest  of  all  was  it  in  his  own  large  heart. 
Love  ruled  him  supremely.  It  was  the  love  of  God  that  won 
him.  "  We  love  him  because  he  first  loved  us,"  says  he.  As 
he  contemplated  the  love  of  Christ,  its  height,  its  depth,  its 
length  and  breadth,  the  tide  of  redeeming  love  pressed  so 
strongly  upon  his  soul,  as  to  bear  him  away  "  to  live  not  for 
himself,  but  for  Him  who  died  for  him  and  rose  again."  He 
rejoiced,  he  exulted  in  being  permitted  to  do  anything  for 
Him  who  had  done  so  much  for  his  soul  and  promised  to  do 
so  much  more.  He  gave  himself  up  to  be  a  Hving  sacrifice  in 
flames  of  love,  accounting  it  a  reasonable  service.  So  far  from 
being  grievous,  it  was  perfect  hberty  to  be  found  in  the  way 
of  God's  commandments.  It  was  this  love  which  so  uphfted 
him  above  aU  meaner  passions.  This  love  to  God  and  his 
Christ  originated  and  inspired  his  love  for  the  brethren  and 
the  world  of  sinners.  It  was  not  a  love  of  natural  relation- 
ship, though  it  hallowed  and  exalted  such  affection,  for  it  was 
his  heart's  prayer  and  desire  that  Israel,  his  kinsmen  accord- 
ing to  the  flesh,  might  be  saved.  It  was  not  a  love  from 
worldly  motives,  for  he  loved,  in  the  face  of  their  enmity,  the 
very  persecutors  that  thirsted  for  his  life ;  and  he  was  a  debt- 
or to  the  Greek,  the  Roman  and  the  Barbarian.  It  was  not 
a  love  of  sect,  though  from  his  love  to  Christ,  he  loved  Chris- 
tians most  of  aU.  Nor  was  it  only  love  to  God  and  man,  for 
he  warms  with  earnest  affection,  when  he  speaks  of  the  holy 


ELOQUENCE    OF   THE   PULPIT.  273 

angels,  ministers  of  Jesus,  and  their  certain  union  with  the 
church  in  glory.  It  was  the  love  of  God  which  made  him  so 
love  his  creatures ;  the  love  he  had  for  Christ,  who  loved  the 
world,  that  made  him  love  all  his  fellow-sinners  and  desire  their 
salvation ;  and  he  delighted  in  the  church  as  showing  forth 
the  energies  of  God's  grace  on  earth,  and  destined  to  glorify 
him  in  all  ages.  Therefore  he  loved  his  work  better  than  all 
earth  could  bestow.  Therefore  his  faith  and  hope  filled  him 
the  more  with  love  for  the  objects  of  his  ministry.  This  gave 
such  ardor  to  his  zeal,  such  enlargement  to  his  desires,  such 
confidence  to  his  prayers.  Hear  that  invocation ;  "  Now  the 
Lord  of  peace  himself  give  you  peace  always  by  all  means." 
What  a  comprehensiveness  of  faith  and  love  and  hope  is  there  1 
Hear  him,  too,  at  the  moment  of  his  most  joyful  anticipation, 
when  expecting  soon  to  be  offered  up,  he  awaited  his  corona- 
tion by  the  hand  of  his  Master :  "  Henceforth  there  is  laid  up 
for  me  a  crown  of  righteousness,  which  the  Lord  the  right- 
eous judge  shall  give  to  me  at  that  day ;  and  not  to  me  only, 
but  unto  them  also  that  love  his  appearing."  His  joy  was  not 
complete  until  his  hope  had  included  by  its  blessedness,  all 
those  whom  he  loved  so  well  for  loving  his  Loi-d  Jesus  Christ. 
Ah !  beloved  brethren,  all  will  be  in  vain  without  this 
charity.  We  may  have  the  eloquence  of  angels,  the  wit  of 
all  philosophy,  and  the  learning  of  all  science ;  but  without 
charity,  love  supreme  to  God  in  Christ,  and  to  all  men  for  his 
sake,  our  preaching  will  be  an  empty  and  idle  noise.  Noth- 
ing else  can  free  us  from  unjust  bigotry  of  sect,  which  so  often 
turns  us  aside  from  our  true  work,  to  wrangle  about  "  foolish 
and  unlearned  questions,  and  such  as  engender  strife ;"  make 


274  ELOQUENCE    OF   THE   PULPIT. 

US  patient  amidst  the  disgusts  of  the  world  and  "  the  contradic- 
tion of  sinners,"  that  trial  which  the  Master  himself  found  to 
be  so  great ;  and  expel  from  our  hearts  all  selfish  desire  of 
ease,  or  reputation,  or  worldly  delight,  which  would  otherwise 
enervate  our  spirit.  Nothing  but  love  can  be  self-sacrificing, 
patient,  laborious,  forgiving,  forbearing,  and  long-suffering,  as 
every  minister  of  Christ  should  live  and  endure,  until  the  Mas- 
ter bids  him  enter  into  his  rest.  The  love  of  God  in  Christ  must 
be  the  fragrant  oil  of  our  consecration,  anointing  our  heads 
and  flowing  down  even  to  the  skirts  of  our  garments.  Let  us 
invoke  it  of  the  Spirit,  kneeling  before  the  cross,  and  looking 
up  from  beside  the  broken  sepulchre  through  the  new  and 
living  way  to  the  throne  of  grace.  Then,  should  our  prayer 
be  heard,  shall  we  be  like  him  in  his  best  excellence,  who 
best  followed  Christ  in  the  difficult  ministry  to  which  we  are 
called. 

Beloved  brethren,  it  is  most  pleasing  to  us,  who  are  now 
bearing  the  heat  and  burden  of  the  day,  and  feel  the  pressure 
of  a  demand  for  labor  in  the  cause  of  God  far  greater  than 
our  numbers  can  supply,  that  we  meet  so  many  ardent  and 
well-taught  aspirants  to  our  sacred  office.  But,  when  we 
consider  the  vast  responsibilities  you  are  about  to  assume, 
and  the  innumerable  perils  you  must  encounter,  we  rejoice 
with  trembling."  How  precious  is  the  salvation  of  the  soul, 
the  welfare  of  the  church,  the  honor  of  the  truth,  the  glory 
of  Christ !  The  results  of  our  stewardship  are  eternal,  the 
eternal  bliss  or  the  eternal  wo  of  many  immortal  spirits. 
From  the  throne  of  God  our  commission  is  derived,  at  His 
judgment  seat  our  account  must  be  rendered.     How  holily 


ELOQUENCE    OF   THE   PULPIT.  275 

should  we  be  set  apart  to  such  an  office !  How  entire  should 
be  our  consecration  !  How  wicked  is  it  to  tolerate  in  ourselves, 
any  personal  aims,  any  careless  ease  when  the  name  of  Christ 
is  so  blasphemed  among  men,  and  millions  are  perishing  for 
lack  of  knowledge !  How  profane  to  allow  a  thirst  for  the 
world's  applause,  or  reputation  of  learning,  to  corrupt  our 
motives  and  degrade  our  efforts !  How  much  is  yet  to  be 
done  before  the  command  of  Jesus,  to  preach  the  gospel  to 
every  creature,  is  fulfilled !  How  short  the  time  in  which  we 
have  to  work !  How  few  the  laborers !  Brethren,  we  are 
not  our  own.  We  belong  to  God,  to  the  church,  to  the  world. 
We  are  twice  dedicated,  as  Christians  and  as  ministers  of  Jesus. 
If  we  be  faithless,  we  are  Iscariots,  betraying  our  Master  for 
some  paltry  price.  If  we  keep  back  any  portion  of  our  time,  our 
talents  or  our  energy,  we  are  like  the  curse-stricken  Ananias, 
liars  unto  the  Holy  Ghost.  Is  there  one  among  you,  who  is 
not  ready  to  cast  all  out  of  his  heart  for  the  glory  of  God  and 
the  good  of  souls,  who  yet  looks  forward  to  any  ease,  to  mere 
literary  pleasure  or  intellectual  distinction,  and  would  make 
the  ministry  subservient  to  such  gratification  ?  Let  me  intreat 
him  to  pause,  before  he  jeopards  the  safety  of  his  own  soul, 
and  the  souls  of  undying  men.  He  is  not  fit  for  the  kingdom 
of  God.  His  hand  is  on  the  plough,  but  he  is  looking  back. 
He  brings  strange  fire  to  the  altar  of  the  most  High.  Pause, 
my  unhappy  friend,  though  all  your  studious  preparation  be 
complete,  though  the  Presbytery  be  waiting  to  lay  their  hands 
upon  your  head,  though  the  congregation  be  assembled  to  hear 
you  preach,  though  your  foot  be  even  upon  the  steps  of  the 
pulpit.     You  are  not  ready  to  be  a  herald  of  the  cross.     Your 


276  ELOQUENCE    OP   THE   PULPIT. 

VOWS  are  blasphemy.  Your  sacrifices  are  profane.  Your 
ministry  is  an  imposture.  Go  to  the  feet  of  your  dishonored 
Lord.  Entreat  him  to  cast  out  the  devils  from  your  heart,  to 
purify  it  by  fires  of  his  Spirit,  and  to  fill  it  with  his  love. 

Yet  how  cautious  should  we  be  who  preach  the  truth  of 
God,  that  we  keep  it  pure,  that  we  make  it  plain,  that,  if  pos- 
sible, we  present  it  attractive,  persuasive,  powerful !  What 
need  of  study,  of  learning,  of  well-chosen  words,  of  appropriate 
manner,  of  various  rhetoric !  As  Galen  says  :  "  an  unskilful 
sculptor  spoils  only  a  block  of  marble,  but  an  unskilful  phy- 
sician spoils  a  man ;"  so  we  may  say  with  equal  truth,  an  un- 
skilful preacher  ruins  immortal  souls.  We  must  contend  in 
men's  bosoms  with  that  arch-deceiver  the  human  heart.  We 
must  meet  error  in  its  Protean  shapes,  and  the  Evil  One  in 
his  most  subtle  disguises  as  an  angel  of  light.  We  must  ap- 
proach the  carnal  mind  in  all  its  multiform  dispositions  and 
circumstances.  Alas !  how  difficult  thus  to  study,  thus  to  aim 
and  to  exercise  ourselves  without  bringing  in  hopes  of  personal 
success,  and  allowing  the  craving  of  personal  pride !  How 
busy  is  the  Tempter  at  our  elbow  when  we  write,  to  make  us 
forget  or  postpone  the  preacher  for  the  scholar,  the  ambassa- 
dor of  Christ  for  the  human  orator !  How  busy  when  we  are 
preaching  to  insinuate  that  the  tears  of  penitence,  and  the 
reviving  zeal  of  Christians,  are  proofs  of  our  skill  and  trophies 
of  our  eloquence !  How  does  he  wait  for  us  when  we  descend 
to  breathe  flatteries  of  our  talent,  yes,  even  of  our  spiritual  fer- 
vor !  Who  shall  guide  us  between  this  Scylla  and  Charyb- 
dis,  "  nee  dextrorsum  nee  sinistrorsum  ?" 

Brethren,  our  only  sure  guide  is   the   High   Priest  of  our 


ELOQUENCE    OF   THE   PULPIT.  277 

profession.  Our  only  safety  is  in  a  continual  "looking  unto 
Jesus."  Let  us  look  to  Him  in  the  manger,  in  his  baptism, 
his  temptation,  his  agony  and  his  cross.  Study  his  lowly  de- 
meanor, his  constant  activity,  his  gentle  meekness,  his  unshaken 
confidence,  his  divine  courage.  Behold  him  upon  his  throne, 
his  mightiness  to  save,  the  glory  of  his  reward,  his  beckon  ing 
hand  holding  forth  the  palm  and  the  crown  of  the  faithful  unto 
death!  We  have  a  true  teacher,  an  omnipotent  support,  a 
present  divinity  in  that  Holy  Spirit,  who  baptized  the  humani- 
ty of  Jesus,  and  strengthened  his  flesh  and  blood  and  human 
soul,  for  the  susception  and  endurance  of  its  mighty  burden. 
That  Holy  Ghost  is  promised  unto  all  that  seek  his  grace,  and 
may  be  ours.  He,  and  He  alone,  can  so  surround  us  in  the 
study,  the  pulpit,  and  our  daily  walk,  as  to  ward  far  from  us 
each  thing  of  sin  and  guilt.  Only  live  and  move  in  Him,  and 
by  faithful  invocation  obtain  his  Presence  to  live  and  move 
within  you,  and  your  fidelity,  your  usefulness  and  reward  are 
sure.  "  Commit  your  way  unto  God.  He  will  bring  it  to 
pass." 

Rely  not  upon  the  world.  It  flatters  for  its  own  ends.  The 
popularity  it  can  give  is  evanescent,  and  those  whom  it  applauds 
to-day,  it  will,  when  tired  of  its  plaything,  ridicule,  scourge, 
and  lie  against  to-morrow.  If  God  makes  you  popular,  re- 
ceive the  dispensation  humbly  as  giving  opportunities  of  use- 
fulness ;  but  remember  it  is  a  fearful  gift,  a  most  perilous  ele- 
vation, exciting  envy,  presenting  you  a  prey  for  base  and 
carping  spirits  to  hawk  at,  liable  at  any  moment  to  a  painful 
reverse,  and  worst  of  all,  except  you  be  most  wakefully  on 
your  guard,  sapping  your  spiritual  life,  and  infusing  thi'ough 

24 


278  ELOQUENCE    OF   THE   PULPIT. 

all  your  best  thoughts  and  duties  a  detestable  self-idolatry.  If 
your  lot  be  more  humble,  it  will  be  more  quiet,  and  need  not 
be  unuseful.  Murmur  not  against  it,  but  living  for  the  best 
improvement  of  the  influence  you  have,  await  your  elevation 
as  a  faithful  servant  on  that  day,  when  the  inequalities  of  time 
shall  be  more  than  compensated  by  the  retributions  of  eter- 
nity. 

Rely  not  upon  the  church.  It  is  composed  of  converted 
sinners  imperfectly  sanctified,  and  you  will  find  in  it  all  the 
passions  that  agitate  the  world,  though  modified  and  restrained 
a  degree.  Expect  not  gratitude,  no,  not  even  justice.  When 
most  disinterestedly  you  contend  against  prevailing  errors  in 
doctrine  and  practice,  or  warn  against  encroaching  dangers, 
you  must  not  be  surprised  to  find  your  enemies,  your  slander- 
ers, your  persecutors,  even  among  the  household  of  God ;  yes, 
and  when  the  delusion  is  past,  and  time  has  justified  your 
fears  and  your  warnings,  the  stains  of  that  unjust  dishonor 
will  remain  upon  your  ministerial  character,  while  your  de- 
votion to  the  cause  of  truth  is  forgotten. 

Rely  not  even  upon  those  whom  you  have  been  the  happy 
instrument  of  converting  from  death  unto  life,  and  of  building 
up  on  the  most  holy  faith.  Well  must  you  love  them,  and 
sweet  must  be  the  delight  taken  in  their  dear  company ;  yet 
never  be  un watchful  even  against  them ;  never  allow  your 
hearts  so  to  lean  upon  them  that  your  trust  cannot  be  recalled, 
and  you  stand  without  their  support.  Not  a  few  of  these 
venerable  men  who  surround  us,  will  assent  when  I  say,  that 
the  shafts  which  have  drunk  our  heart's  peace  with  the  most 
venomed  bitterness,  have  been  aimed  and  urged  by  those 


ELOQUENCE   OP   THE   PULPIT.  279 

whose  spiritual  infancy  we  have  nursed  and  watched  over 
with  the  most  yearning  affection. 

Trust  none  but  God.  Live  supremely  for  Christ.  Rely 
only  upon  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  look  for  your  reward  above 
earth  and  beyond  time.  If  God  bless  you  on  the  way,  thank 
him  and  enjoy  the  grace  ;  but  let  not  even  blessing  delay  your 
onward  speed  to  heaven,  or  seduce  your  contemplation  from 
the  joy  which  is  eternal. 

Beloved  Master,  when  we  behold  thee  leaving  the  throne 
of  heaven  for  the  manger  of  thy  human  infancy,  the  sorrows 
of  thy  life,  the  bitterness  of  thy  passion  ;  when  we  think  of 
thy  patience  with  the  contradiction  of  sinners  against  thyself, 
and  thy  long  suffering  of  the  lukewarmness  of  thy  people ; 
when  we  read  of  the  stupendous  economy  and  riches  of  thy 
grace ;  we  wonder  at  the  vastness  of  the  sacrifice,  and  the 
infiniteness  of  the  condescension :  but,  when  we  behold  thee 
on  thy  throne,  thy  victories  all  complete,  thy  people  all  brought 
home,  thy  church  perfect  in  thine  image,  and  hear  the  swell- 
ing chorus  of  praise  that  resounds  through  the  eternal  years 
of  God,  we  know  that  the  purchase  was  worthy  of  its  price, 
the  reward  of  the  sorrow  that  earned  it,  and  the  joy  of  the 
death  from  which  it  was  born  immortal. 

Brethren,  companions  in  tribulation  and  in  the  kingdom  and 
patience  of  Jesus  Christ,  baptized  with  our  Master's  baptism, 
partakers  of  his  cup,  and  followers  of  his  ministry,  what  are 
all  the  labors  we  can  endure,  the  trials  we  must  encounter,  the 
sacrifices  we  are  called  to  make,  compared  with  a  fellowship 
in  that  glory,  and  joy,  and  reward  !  I  cannot  speak  of  the 
glory  of  the  ascended  church  when  it  "shall  shine  as  the 


280  ELOQUENCE    OF   THE   PULPIT. 

brightness  of  the  firmament,"  or  of  the  ascended  ministers  of 
Jesus  when  they  shall  shine  "  like  stars  "  in  that  firmament 
*'  forever  and  ever."  It  is  not  given  to  man  to  know,  nor  to 
the  tongue  of  man  to  describe  the  riches  God  has  prepared 
for  them  that  love  him.  But  God  grant  that  this  we  know 
not  now,  we  all  may  know  by  sweet  experience  hereafter,  and 
that  all  this  Christian  company,  meeting  around  the  throne  of 
the  Lord  God  Almighty  and  the  Lamb,  may  behold  his  face 
in  righteousness.  Then  shall  we  be  "  satisfied  with  his  like- 
ness," "  for  we  shall  see  him  as  he  is." 


THE  DUTIES  OF  EDUCATED  MEW. 


AN    ORATION 


BBFOEE    THE 


LITERARY  SOCIETIES  OF  DICKINSON  COLLEGE, 


CARLISLE,  PA. 


JULY,  1843. 


(published  at  their  request.) 


24* 


ORATION. 


Gentlemen, 

There  is  a  story  told  somewhere,  of  one  who  came  back, 
after  a  long  absence,  to  the  scenes  of  his  youth.  He  had 
gone  forth  in  early  adventure  to  distant  lands,  and  the  hope  of 
return  had  cheered  his  many  years  of  foreign  toil,  until  the 
noon  of  life  found  him  drawing  near  once  more  to  the  only 
spot  he  ever  could  call  home.  His  heart  beat  more  and  more 
quickly  as  the  mountains  around  the  village  rose  in  the  blue 
distance  ;  then,  as  he  saw  the  spire  of  the  church,  or  the  well- 
remembered  trees  grown  old  but  still  green ;  and  then,  as  he 
entered  the  cheerful  street.  Many  a  dweUing  was  familiar, 
though  touched  by  time  ;  but  among  the  groups  about  their 
thresholds,  and  those  who  met  him  on  the  walk,  there  was  not 
a  face  that  he  knew  or  that  knew  him.  He  passed  on  through 
the  abodes  of  the  living  to  the  resting-place  of  the  dead ;  and 
there  he  found  graven  on  stones,  many  of  the  names  that  were 
written  on  his  soul.  All  whom  he  had  hoped  to  meet  again, 
were  gone,  or  were  buried,  or  had  forgotten  him.  He  was 
alone,  a  stranger  in  his  early  home.  He  paused  to  look  around 
him-    There  stood  the  venerable  edifice  within  which  his 


284  DUTIES    OF   EDUCATED   MEN. 

young  mind  had  been  trained  to  learning.  There  was  the 
green  where  he  had  leaped  and  shouted  with  his  fellows. 
There  flowed  the  little  stream  from  the  shaded  spring,  which 
had  so  often  slaked  his  summer  thirst.  He  followed  to  it  the 
path  deep-beaten  in  the  sod.  He  stooped  and  took  one  long 
cool  draught ;  his  tears  fell  on  the  calm  water's  face  ;  he  lifted 
his  hat  from  his  head,  breathed  a  prayer,  and  departed  to  re- 
turn no  more. 

With  some  such  emotions  does  your  orator  address  you 
now.  A  score  of  years  has  passed  since  he  left,  for  the 
urgencies  of  mature  hfe,  these  academic  shades,  dear  from  a 
thousand  memories  of  happy  youth.  They  were  then  popu- 
lous with  his  friends,  and  their  classic  exercitations  were  di- 
rected by  th,e  kind  and  paternal  solicitude  of  teachers  to  whose 
skill  and  fidelity  gratitude  can  never  make  sufficient  payment. 
He  has  trodden  the  college  halls  again  to-day,  and  has  seen 
within  them  many  happy  faces  blooming  with  youth  ;  but  those 
whom  he  once  loved  to  greet  in  frank  regard,  are  all  gone. 
§ome  are  in  the  grave :  the  rest  widely  scattered  through  a 
cold  world,  never  to  know  again  the  buoyant  happiness  and 
careless  wealth  of  affection  that  blessed  them  and  him.  But 
thanks  be  to  God  !  the  fountain  of  truth  at  which  they  drank, 
s^ll  wells  forth  its  living  waters ;  the  path  to  it  is  still  deep- 
beaten  by  youthful  feet ;  and  I  have  come  to  take  one  draught 
from  it  with  you ;  to  send  up  a  prayer  for  you  to  the  Father 
of  lights,  who  causes  it  to  flow  —  and  to  go  my  way ! 

It  i&  not  possible  for  me,  however,  to  look  upon  so  many 
W^l-taught  young  men,  soon  to  esnter  the  busy  ways  of  life, 
and  sure  to  accomplish  much  good  or  evU,  without  sincere 


DUTIES    OF   EDUCATED   MEN.  285 

anxiety,  and  a  wish  to  impart  such  friendly  counsel  as  a  little 
experience  and  some  study  enables  me  to  give.  Your  kind- 
ness in  asking  from  me  a  discourse  at  a  time  so  important  to 
you,  and  so  interesting  to  us  all,  warrants  me  in  choosing  a 
grave  and  pregnant  theme  : 

THE   DUTIES    OF   EDUCATED    MEN. 

Frown  not,  my  young  friends,  at  the  mention  of  that  sober 
word,  duty.  It  might  be  more  pleasing  perhaps,  and  afford 
more  opportunities  of  oratorical  flourish,  to  dwell  upon  the 
pleasures  of  intellectual  pursuits,  or  to  assert  the  doctrine  (so 
little  understood)  that  virtue  is  its  own  reward,  and  thus  allure 
you  to  honorable  usefulness  by  the  promise  of  wages  soon  and 
easily  won.  Yet  that  w^ould  be  to  invert  the  order  of  morals, 
to  deceive  you  with  vain  hopes,  and  to  repeat  the  false  phi- 
losophy of  the  Garden,  so  beautiful  in  the  dreams  of  its  first 
teacher,  content  with  his  dinner  of  herbs,  but  so  fruitful  of 
excesses  in  his  followers,  who  made  the  name  of  Epicurus, 
against  whose  life  only  slander  has  spoken,  a  sanction  for 
selfish  sloth  and  voluptuous  crime.  Pursue  virtvie  only  for  its 
pleasures,  and  you  will  soon  forget  the  means  in  impatience 
to  grasp  the  end.  Your  virtue  will  be  but  a  counterfeit ;  for 
it  will  want  the  motive,  the  dignity,  and  the  courage  of  the 
true.*     Its  difficulties,  its  privations,  its  sufferings,  and  its 

*  Quisque  maxime  ad  suum  commodam  refert  qusecumque  agit,  ita 
minime  est  vir  bonus ;  qui  virtutem  prffimio  metiuntur,  nullam  virtutem 

nisi  malitiam  putent Injustissimum  ipsum  est,  justitise  mercedem 

quserere.    Cicero  de  Legibus,  1 .  I8. 


286  DUTIES    OF   EDUCATED   MEN. 

wrongs  will  soon  disgust  so  feeble  a  spirit  with  righteousness. 
"We  are  indeed  told  by  the  unerring  wisdom  that  "  her  ways 
are  ways  of  pleasantness,  and  all  her  paths  are  paths  of 
peace ;"  but  the  pleasantness  must  descend  from  on  high,  and 
the  peace  dwell  in  the  heart  of  the  pilgrim. 

"  He  that  hath  light  within  his  own  clear  breast 

May  sit  i'  the  centre  and  enjoy  pure  day." 
If  virtue  gather  pleasures,  they  have  grown  not  in  the  soil 
of  earth.  None  but  God  can  give  them,  and  rarely  does  he 
bestow  more  than  an  earnest  here.  The  world  will  applaud 
its  flatterers,  its  betrayers,  its  tyrants,  who  serve  its  pride  and 
its  sins,  like  the  Olympian  demagogue  of  Athens  who  cor- 
rupted to  weakness  that  he  might  rule  the  republic.  Men 
build  the  sepulchres  of  prophets  long  since  martyred  for  truth, 
but  drive  out  to  banishment  the  reproving  example  of  living 
integrity,  and  stone  at  the  very  shrine  the  honest  augur  who 
announces  omens  of  ruin  from  the  sinister  course  of  their 
ill-governed  desires  or  from  the  sacrifices  they  make  to  their 
crimes.  The  Just  Man  of  Plato,  though  wholly  just,  was 
accused  of  all  injustice,  and  continuing  steadfastly  just  while 
condemned  as  unjust,  had  his  eyes  put  out,  was  scourged,  spat 
upon,  and  crucified.  The  more  sure  word  of  God  confirms 
the  philosophical  anticipation.  The  entrance  upon  virtue  is 
difficult ;  it  is  a  "  strait  gate."  The  progress  of  virtue  is  pain- 
ful ;  it  is  a  "  narrow  way."  Its  crown  of  life  is  certain,  but  it 
awaits  only  the  "  faithful  unto  death."  He  who  walked  that 
way  as  the  Forerunner  for  us,  and  secured  for  us  that  crown, 
was  despised  and  rejected  of  men ;  and  after  him  the  multi- 
tude shouted  with  execrations,  "  Crucify !  crucify  !"    "  Not 


DITTIES    OF   EDUCATED   MEN.  287 

this  man,  but  a  robber !"  until  be  bowed  his  God-stricken 
head  upon  the  tree,  once  infamous  and  accursed,  but  now 
made  illustrious  by  a  constancy  to  truth  which  neither  agony 
could  shake  nor  darkness  hide,  and  by  "  the  glory  which  fol- 
lowed." None  can  hope  to  reach  that  glory,  who  have  not 
courage  to  dare  that  cross. 

The  first  instinct  of  hfe  is  a  clinging  dependence  upon  the 
parental  bosom  for  support  and  nourishment.  The  first  thought 
of  virtue  is  dependence  upon  God,  its  sole  author  and  strength. 
Until  we  feel  strongly  our  duty  to  God  first  and  paramount, 
there  is  no  moral  life  in  the  soul.  Until  we  propose  his  ap- 
proval as  our  supreme  aim,  there  is  no  strength  in  our  virtue. 
Until  we  establish  the  perfect  authority  of  his  law  in  our 
hearts,  we  have  no  guide  for  our  feet.  Only  from  duty  to 
the  one  Creator  can  flow  our  duties  to  our  brotherhood  of  his 
children,  for  our  duty  is  all  his  ;  and  reason's  best  effort  is  to 
learn  from  faith  what  "  He  would  have  us  to  do,"  whose  wis- 
dom has  arranged  and  alone  can  comprehend  the  vast  and 
complicated  economy  of  human  interests.  Life,  our  faculties, 
our  affections,  our  all  belong  to  God,  and  from  Him  cometh 
down  the  noblest  gift  next  to  pardoning,  sanctifying  grace, 
wisdom !  From  his  goodness  we  derive  the  arts  of  life,  the 
aggregated  experience  of  history,  the  multiplying  resources  of 
science,  the  insurgent  force  and  anticipating  faith  of  genius, 
and  the  enduring  nerve  of  zeal.  These  gifts  of  his  love  are 
not  for  ourselves  only.  He  has  linked  us  to  mankind  by  com- 
mon sympathies  and  interests ;  by  language  and  mutual  de- 
pendence. To  Him  we  can  return  nothing.  He  needs  not 
us  nor  ours.     But  as  in  the  physical  world  he  is  pleased  to 


288  DUTIES    OF   EDUCATED   MEN. 

employ  for  our  learning  an  economy  of  second  causes,  so 
is  he  pleased  for  our  good,  if  we  will  receive  it,  to  employ  us 
as  moral  agents  in  the  working  out  of  his  moral  designs.  To 
man  we  must  give  the  due  we  owe  to  God.  In  living  for 
man  we  live  for  God.  God  works  in  us,  and  with  us,  and  by 
us.  Yet  we  live  for  ourselves  again ;  because  they  who  serve 
God  in  serving  man,  shall  find  a  reward  worthy  of  such  a 
master.  He  who  scattered  over  infinite  space,  by  his  creating 
hand,  the  worlds  like  golden  seed,  that  from  them  as  a  mighty 
reaper  he  might  gather  eternal  harvests  of  glory,  will  leave 
no  scanty  gleaning  for  the  humblest  spirit  that  sows  his  little 
field  in  godlike  hope  to  share  his  Maker's  joy.  Therefore  it 
is  that  I  speak  to  you,  who,  in  these  rich  opportunities  of 
learning,  have  been  entrusted  with  precious  truth  and  the 
skill  to  communicate  it,  of  the  duties  of  educated  men,  duties 
which  you  owe  to  God,  and  can  discharge  only  in  doing  good 
to  the  world. 

The  first  which  suggests  itself,  is,  Perseverance  in  intellectual 
pursuits. 

It  would  be  absurd  to  suppose  that  by  an  educated  man  is 
meant  one  who  has  attained  the  acme  of  human  knowledge ; 
nor  will  the  ridiculous  notion  that  your  education  is  complete 
on  the  day  when  you  are  graduated  or  enter  upon  public  life, 
obtain  in  your  minds.  Knowledge  is  infinite  as  God,  and  he 
has  set  no  limits  to  the  immortal  soul.  Science  is  enlarging 
her  boundaries  in  an  ever  multiplying  ratio,  and  the  adept 
twenty  years  ago  would  be  but  a  smatterer  now.  To  remain 
stationary  in  knowledge  is  to  become  ignorant.  Our  early 
studies,  at  the  best,  give  us  nothing  more  than  the  mere  ele- 


I>UTIES    OF  EDUCATED   MEN.  289 

ments  of  truth,  the  rules  of  acquiring  it,  a  taste  for  enjoying 
it,  discipline  of  our  powers,  and  some  skill  in  the  use  of  books  or 
in  the  observation  of  phenomena.     In  them  we  only  learn  how 
to  study.     The  universe  of  knowledge  lies  before  us.     The  pur- 
pose of  our  education  is  defeated,  and  its  value  vilely  cast  away^ 
except  we  carry  out  these  advantages  in  following  life.     What- 
ever be  the  future  occupation  of  your  life,  whether  in  the  profes- 
sions called  learned,  or  other  engagements  not  less  honorable 
or  necessary  for  the  service  of  society,  remember  that  at  the  cost 
of  long  and  expensive  training  you  now  belong  to  the  rank  of 
educated  men,  gifted  with  intellectual  taste  and  power.     If 
you  would  not  become  disgraced  recreants  from  your  order, 
carry  with  you  wherever  you  go,  in  all  possible  circumstances, 
a  love  and  zeal  for  enlarging  knowledge.     Let  no  day  pass 
without  exercising  your  acquired  skill  and  enhancing  your 
mental  worth,  for  by  not  putting  out  at  usury  the  talent  en- 
trusted to  your  agency  you  will  merit  the  infamy  of  the  wick- 
ed and  slothful  servant,  slothful  because  wicked,  and  wicked 
because  slothful. 

Do  not  think  this  impracticable,  or  that  study,  in  the  true 
sense  of  the  word  is  not  consistent  with  active  business.  Such 
an  opinion  is  the  growth  of  indolence  or  dulness.  Those  who 
have  done  most  for  all  branches  of  science  have  been,  with 
exceptions  not  frequent,  men  who  wrested  from  necessary  toil 
time  for  its  generous  and  ennobling  service,  and  that  often 
when  their  daily  pursuits  were  in  opposite  directions  to  the 
walks  in  which  they  became  distinguished.  No  man  con- 
scious of  mind  and  immortality,  should  suffer  himself  to  be  in 
such  bondage  to  sordid  cares,  as  to  have  no  time  for  the  exercise 

25 


290  DUTIES    OF   EDUCATED   MEW. 

of  his  better  powers  and  the  culture  of  his  higher  life.  Sure- 
ly, it  were  not  worth  our  while  to  live,  if  all  our  years  be 
exhausted  in  answering  the  questions,  "  What  shall  we  eat  ? 
what  shall  we  drink  ?  and  wherewithal  shall  we  be  clothed  ?" 
The  intervals  usually  denominated  leisure,  are  those  in  which 
our  proper  life  should  be  found ;  and,  therefore,  ought  to  be 
sedulously  sought,  guarded  and  employed.  No  man  who  has 
a  proper  strength  of  will  to  practise  economy  of  his  minutes, 
need  be  denied  so  pure  and  profitable  a  luxury !  The  early 
morning,  before  Mammon  is  awake ;  the  calm  midnight,  when 
the  bustle  of  the  world  is  hushed ;  the  various  pauses  of  business 
necessarily  occurring  —  so  often  wasted  in  excessive  sleep,  in 
lounging  ease  or  idle  gossip — afford  even  to  the  most  burthened 
precious  opportunities  for  reading,  observation,  and  thought. 
You  may  have  read  of  a  zealous  scholar  who  finding  himself 
daily  called  to  his  food  some  little  time  before  it  was  ready, 
improved  the  moments  which  must  otherwise  have  been  lost, 
in  preparing  three  huge  quartos  for  the  press.  A  learned 
friend  of  my  own,*  whose  elaborate  works  have  won  for  him 
genuine  and  exalted  fame  in  both  hemispheres,  and  who,  while 
skilled  as  a  general  scholar  is  a  most  voluminous  writer  as  well 
as  an  indefatigable  and  eminently  successful  teacher  of  his 
peculiar  science,  has  often  assured  me  that  he  was  never  so 
busy,  but  he  could  find  time  for  something  more  ;  to  the  truth 
of  which  assertion  those  who  know  the  delight  of  his  instruc- 
tive and  ever  cheerful  society  can  bear  witness. 

Every  one  needs  some  relaxation  or  amusement,  and  ex- 
perience has  found  that  the  best  relief  for  the  mind  is  not 
idleness,  but  change  of  occupation.     Let  your  relaxation  be 
*  Dr.  Dunglinson,  of  Philadelphia. 


DUTIES    OF   EDUCATED    MEN.  291 

intellectual  engagements,  and  your  amusement  the  entertain- 
ing developments  of  truth.  Though  perhaps  wearisome  at 
first,  such  a  habit  of  study  will  soon  become  a  second  and 
higher  nature.  You  will  find  no  refreshment  like  communion 
with  graceful  or  exalted  minds,  and  instead  of  a  toil  to  be 
feared,  you  will  welcome  release  from  other  toil,  that  you  may 
turn  to  the  conversation  of  philosophy,  a  friend  ever  ready, 
and  ever  faithful.  He  who  has  this  habit  is  never  alone,  and 
never  without  a  pleasure.  If  he  walk  abroad,  the  heavenly 
bodies  as  they  wheel  along  their  orbits,  the  winds  and  the 
storm-clouds,  whose  laws  once  seemed  inscrutable,  the  count- 
less tribes  of  living  things,  with  their  varied  anatomy  and 
habits  and  uses,  the  plants  of  the  field  and  the  trees  of  the 
wood,  the  rocks,  the  very  soil  on  which  he  treads,  all  speak  to 
him  a  language  he  understands,  and  give  him  lessons  of  profit 
and  delight.  If  he  sit  at  home,  the  volume  before  him  with 
better  than  magic  power  uplifts  him  from  the  dull  earth  in  the 
truthful  dreams  of  the  poet,  bears  him  back  to  past  ages,  ac- 
quaints him  with  the  experience  of  man  individual  and  social, 
reveals  to  him  in  an  hour  secrets  which  others  toiled  years  to 
discover,  makes  him  a  companion  of  the  best  minds  when  act- 
ing best ;  the  best  minds  in  their  best  actings  ;  or,  if  he  close  his 
senses  for  quiet  meditation,  he  has  within  a  world  of  pleasant 
and  exalted  thought.  Nor  let  it  be  said  that  these  pursuits 
unfit  a  man  for  his  ordinary  occupation.  This  can  be  true 
only  so  far  as  his  ordinary  accupation  is  unfit  for  him.  They 
do  indeed  refine  and  elevate,  and  so  may  disgust  him  with  the 
mere  lucre  of  gain  and  the  petty  objects  of  common  ambition  ; 
but  for  this  very  reason  they  should  be  cherished.     You  will 


292  DUTIES    OF   EDUCATED    MEN. 

need  all  their  influence  to  keep  you  from  sordidness,  selfishness, 
and  Avorldliness,  from  becoming  the  slave  of  dollars  and  cents, 
of  truckling  expediency,  of  popular  prejudice,  or  worse,  of 
sense  and  appetite. 

The  present  life  was  not  given  to  be  exhausted  upon  its 
own  necessities,  but  to  advance  us  towards  a  better,  the  eternal 
sphere  of  knowledge,  love  and  divine  service.  You  were  not 
made  immortal,  nor  have  you  been  thus  carefully  educated,  to 
labor  in  one  dull  round  like  a  slave  at  the  wheel  or  a  convict 
on  the  tread-mill.  It  is  your  privilege  and  your  duty  to  re- 
deem from  the  impediments  of  daily  business  some  moments 
of  mental  freedom,  which  is  true  life.  Such  breathings  of  a 
purer  air  will  not  make  you  worse  men  of  business,  but  make 
you  better  men,  conscious  of  a  higher  being,  of  purer  aims  and 
more  generous  thought.  Can  it  be  that  business  is  necessax'i- 
ly  so  degraded  as  to  forbid  its  leisure  to  literature  and  science, 
nay  to  religion  itself,  which  refines  and  elevates  most  of  all  ? 
What  better  then  is  it  than  the  hewing  of  wood  or  the  draw- 
ing of  water,  than  the  work  of  the  ox  or  the  ass  ?  What 
need  of  mind  and  education  for  this?  But  it  is  not  so. 
A  thousand  examples  too  familiar  for  citation  show  that  the 
best  men  of  business  have  not  unfrequently  been  those  whose 
capacities  were  most  enlarged  by  mental  culture.  Such  men 
may  sometimes  fail,  but  with  no  injustice  to  their  creditors 
they  remain  rich.  If  Roscoe  from  no  fault  of  his  own  became 
a  bankrupt  merchant,  the  historian  of  the  Medici  lives  immor- 
tal in  fame ;  and  who  that  ever  felt  a  ray  of  light  upon  his 
brain  but  would  prefer  the  authorship  of  the  Pleasures  of 
Memory  to  all  the  wealth  of  Rogers  the  banker  ?     If  ignorant 


DUTIES    OF   EDUCATED   MEN.  293 

men  by  fortuitous  successes  or  parsimonious  grasping  attain 
remarkable  wealth,  their  success  has  but  the  disgraceful  effect 
of  making  their  ignorance  and  covetousness  the  more  remark- 
able. The  needy  sycophant  may  flatter  them,  the  unfortunate 
debtor  ruined  by  their  exactions,  humble  himself  before  them, 
and  their  impatient  heirs  wait  servilely  for  their  death ;  but 
the  poorest  scholar  is  far  more  respectable  than  they  who  are 
valued  only  by  the  money  in  their  chest.  It  is  I  know  a 
popular  prejudice  that  theory  is  useless  to  a  practical  man,  but 
what  department  of  human  labor  is  there  that  science  has  not 
lightened  and  made  more  profitable,  or  may  not  extend  yet 
more  ?  So  that  even  in  a  man's  particular  walk  of  business, 
he  may  find  knowledge  of  truth  only  to  be  gained  by  study, 
his  best  adviser  and  assistant.  Is  the  merchant  less  likely  to 
be  skilful  in  trade  because  he  understands  its  laws,  and  is  able 
to  anticipate  those  causes  of  supply  and  demand  which  come 
from  beyond  the  vision  of  the  common  observer  ?  How  much 
ruin  might  have  been  averted  from  our  commerce  by  the 
practice  of  a  few  rules  of  political  economy,  in  the  face  of 
which  our  legislators  and  our  community,  lured  by  the  most 
extravagant  speculation,  rushed  upon  their  own  destruction  ? 
Is  a  farmer  less  likely  to  apply  his  labor  successfully,  because 
he  can  analyze  his  composts  and  adjust  by  the  rules  of  true 
science  his  means  of  increase  ?  or  the  manufacturer  from  his 
knowledge  of  improved  mechanism,  and  the  chemistry  of  dyes? 
A  physician  who  is  not  a  man  of  continually  growing  science 
is  a  quack,  and  no  man  can  grow  in  science  without  some 
literature.  The  jurist  is  unworthy  to  practise  his  noble  pro- 
fession, the  interpretation  and  defence  of  right,  if  he  be  not 
25* 


294  DUTIES    OF   EDUCATED   MEN. 

thoroughly  conversant  with  the  history  and  heart  of  man, 
deeply  read  in  models  of  logical  eloquence,  and  raised  above 
all  hireling  motive  by  a  generous  sense  of  his  own  high  calling. 
The  preacher,  and  to  the  sacred  office  I  am  told  that  not  a  few 
of  you  aspire,  perhaps  more  than  all  others  needs  the  widest 
range  of  knowledge  and  cultivation  of  mind,  in  a  day  when 
the  records  of  past  ages,  the  developments  of  every  science, 
and  the  most  abstruse  metaphysics,  are  ransacked  by  the  op- 
ponents of  revelation  and  the  advocates  of  false  Christianity. 
He  owes  it  to  himself,  his  hearers,  and  his  God  that  he  should 
be  prepared  against  all  error,  for  truth  when  fairly  set  forth 
is  never  antagonistic  to  religion.  It  has  been  the  fashion  with 
some  to  pronounce  zeal  and  piety  independent  of  mental  culti- 
vation for  the  success  of  those  efforts  which  can  prosper  only 
by  the  blessing  of  God.  But  God  himself  works  not  without 
means.  Nor  should  it  be  forgotten,  that  though  he  chose  illite- 
rate men  for  apostles,  he  qualified  them  at  the  Pentecost  with 
various  learning  before  he  sent  them  forth  into  the  world ; 
nay,  that  the  very  chiefest  of  them  all,  who  was  most  success- 
ful in  baffling  the  philosopher  and  the  sophist  as  well  as  in 
teaching  the  simple  and  the  slave,  was  one  trained  in  all  the 
arts  of  the  schools.  One  must  read  most  superficially  those 
epistles  which  have  fed  the  church  of  all  ages  with  divine 
truth,  not  to  see  that  the  Holy  Ghost  employed  the  varied 
learning  and  logical  discipline  of  Paul,  as  well  as  his  mighty 
mind  and  gigantic  heart.  It  is  true  that  the  pulpit  is  no  place 
for  the  parade  of  learning,  and  none  so  abuse  it  except  the 
pedant  and  the  pretender.  But  it  requires  no  small  learning 
to  be  correct,  not  a  little  study  to  be  simple,  and  great  com- 


DUTIES    OF   EDUCATED   MEN.  295 

mand  of  language  to  be  plain.  It  is,  with  rare  exceptions, 
your  uneducated  or  half-educated  men  that  confound  their 
audience  with  great  swelling  polysyllables  of  vanity,  imperfect 
definitions  which  are  fruitful  of  error,  and  thoughts  good  per- 
haps in  themselves,  but  with  as  Httle  arrangement  as  chaos. 
The  thoroughly  educated  preacher  alone  is  lucid,  simple  and 
intelligible,  because  his  words  are  well  chosen,  his  scheme 
preconceived,  and  his  logic  exact.  Little  do  the  people  know 
how  much  the  dialectics  of  the  Stagyrite,  the  vehement  direct- 
ness of  Demosthenes,  the  sonorous  cadences  of  Tully,  yes, 
even  the  graceful  expressions  of  the  lyric  and  the  epic,  have 
contributed  to  their  edification  in  the  house  of  God.  Little 
do  they  know  what  years  of  patient  study  were  spent  over  the 
yellow  pages  of  classic  lore,  to  make  the  sermon  so  plain  that 
the  child  bears  it  home  and  fancies  he  could  have  preached  it 
himself  It  is  said  of  Cecil,  (I  think,)  that  in  his  later  years 
he  separated  all  his  classics  from  his  library  and  burned  them. 
Had  he  burned  them  at  twenty,  we  should  never  have  heard 
of  Cecil.  He  had  drawn  the  honey  from  the  hive  and  he 
burned  but  the  straw.  Moses  was  trained  for  forty  years  in 
all  the  learning  of  Egypt  as  well  as  kept  forty  years  in  the 
desert,  before  he  was  set  at  the  head  of  Israel.  Luther  and 
Calvin  and  the  other  leading  reformers  were  men  of  the  most 
profound  erudition,  and  their  immense  volumes  show  that  they 
used  their  learning  in  the  midst  of  their  fatigues  and  perils,  to 
the  last.  John  Wesley  came  a  scholar  armed  from  the  uni- 
versity, and  in  his  most  edifying  discourses  a  scholar's  eye  can 
see  how  well  he  used  his  early  advantages.  A  cloak  and  some 
books  and  some  parchments  were  all  the  wealth  for  which  the 


296  DUTIES    OF   EDUCATED    MEN. 

Apostle  of  the  Gentiles  seemed  to  care ;  and  unless  you  doubt 
the  inspiration  of  his  advice  to  Timothy :  "  Give  attention  to 
reading,"  you  had  better  go  without  the  cloak  than  the  books 
or  the  parchments. 

Whatever  be  your  future  occupation,  persevere  in  study. 
Jf  learning  be  not  useful,  why  have  you  wasted  time  in  these 
halls  ?  If  it  be,  its  increase  must  be  an  increase  of  usefulness. 
You  are  now  only  upon  the  threshold  of  knowledge.  Refuse 
to  press  forward,  and  you  dishonorably  abandon  the  advantage 
you  have  gained.  You  will  be  the  disgrace  of  scholarship,  and 
blots  upon  the  list  of  educated  men. 

It  is  the  duty  of  educated  men  to  teach  the  people  knowledge. 

By  the  people,  I  mean  the  mass  of  society  without  respect 
to  rank  or  privileged  classes,  the  social  man.  The  time  was 
when  knowledge  like  power  was  the  birth-right  of  the  few ; 
when  it  was  treasonable  in  the  many  to  dare  more  than  to  toil 
or  fight  at  the  command  of  masters ;  when  the  Greek  philoso- 
pher, the  Roman  poet  and  the  Jewish  scribe  were  unanimous 
in  calling  the  common  people  accursed.  Even  at  democratic 
Athens,  Socrates  the  best  friend  of  man  in  all  heathen  anti- 
quity, pronounced  physical  labor  not  compatible  with  mental 
elevation.  The  politics  of  Plato,  Aristotle  and  Tully,  treat 
the  artizan  and  the  slave  with  almost  equal  contempt.  The 
will  of  the  people  was  never  fairly  acknowledged  in  any  an- 
cient commonwealth.  With  this  neglect  of  the  common  mind 
was  joined  neglect  of  the  common  heart,  and  the  morals  of  the 
people  were  as  low  as  their  knowledge.  The  idea  of  virtue 
was  hidden  behind  the  veil  of  an  esoteric  philosophy.  Even 
immortality  and  the  favor  of  heaven  were  appropriated  as 


DUTIES    OF   EDUCATED    MEN.  29^7 

exclusive  privileges  by  the  rich,  the  high-born  and  the  learned. 
Hence  throughout  the  classic  ages  you  see  the  masses  left  un- 
disturbed, nay,  encouraged  in  all  the  degrading  impurities  of 
a  polytheism  which  the  philosopher  secretly  ridiculed,  and 
considered  beyond  the  hope  of  moral  elevation  by  those  who 
exulted  to  discover  the  divine  in  themselves  and  aspired  to  a 
resumption  within  the  embrace  of  the  one  good  and  original 
source  of  all  spirit.  It  was  Christianity  which  first  took  away 
ignominy  from  labor.  Jesus,  who  came  from  God  and  who 
was  God,  Jesus,  who  came  to  be  the  Redeemer  of  humanity 
from  all  the  disgraces  of  that  fall  which  wrung  sweat  from  the 
brow  of  man,  Jesus  took  his  place  among  the  despised  multi- 
tude, a  child  of  poverty,  in  a  family  supported  by  daily  toil. 
Thus  did  He,  who  was  called  "  the  carpenter's  son "  demon- 
strate that  the  highest  dignity,  the  purest  wisdom,  the  noblest 
virtue,  may  dwell  in  the  breast  and  adorn  the  life  of  the  laborer 
and  the  poor  man.  He  proclaimed  a  kingdom  not  of  this 
world,  where  the  petty  distinctions  invented  by  earthly  pride 
are  unknown,  a  kingdom  of  knowledge,  of  generous  love,  of 
equal  truth  and  godlike  righteousness.  He  poured  unuttera- 
ble contempt  upon  pomp,  and  pretensions,  and  exclusiveness, 
when,  without  a  home,  his  companions  some  fishermen  from 
the  sea-side  of  Galilee  and  a  publican,  despite  of  bigot  threats, 
he  turned  from  denouncing  the  tyrant,  the  pharisee  and  the 
pedantic  scribe,  to  teach  the  multitude  in  the  streets,  on  the 
shore,  and  the  mountain.  At  the  voice  of  his  Gospel,  the 
burden-bearer,  the  slave,  and  the  outcast  looked  up  and  hoped. 
They  felt  themselves  no  longer  forgotten,  but  conscious  of  im- 
mortality and  the  divine  regard,  aspired  to  sonsliip  with  God 


298  DUTIES    OF   EDUCATED   MEN. 

and  an  inheritance  of  immortal  light.     Well  was  it  said  of 
him :  "  Never  man  spake  like  this  man  !  "     How  poor  are  all 
the  ethics  of  the  schools  and  the  codes  of  nations  beside  his 
simple  rule,  to  love  God  supremely  and  our  neighbor  as  our- 
selves !    How  clear  is  his  demonstration  against  all  prejudices 
of  rank,  or  fortune,  or  party,  when  he  pronounces  every  man 
our  neighbor  who  needs  our  help !     I  would  not  turn  your 
thoughts  away  from  the  religious  import  of  his  teachings,  for 
social  morality  is  the  genuine  fruit  of  evangelical  faith,  but  I 
will  say  that  he,  who  cannot  read  in  the  teachings  of  Jesus 
and  the  divine  example  that  confirmed  them,  the  equality  of 
human  rights,  and  the  duty  of  every  man  to  do  his  fellow  man 
good,  not  as  a  master,  neither  as  a  slave,  but  as  a  brother 
loving  and  desirous  of  being  loved,  has  not  yet  known  Christ 
as  he  ought  to  know  him.    Whence  came  that  sublime  theory 
of  our  constitution  (would  to  God  it  were  more  fully  carried 
into  practice ! )  "  that  all  men  are  created  equal  ?  "     Not  from 
the  misnomered  republics  of  antiquity,  not  from  any  tome  of 
heathen  learning,  not  fi'om  the  boasted  system  of  half-enfran- 
chised Britain,  from  which,  notwithstanding  common  opinion, 
we  have  taken  far  less  than  from  the  popular  institutions  of 
the  Netherlands.     It  was  found  by  the  fathers  of  the  confed- 
eracy nowhere  else  than  in  the  New  Testament  of  Jesus 
Christ.     Jesus  the  deliverer  first  proclaimed  man  free,  and 
the  full  import  of  civil  freedom  was  never  undei'Stood  until  the 
foundation  of  our  goverament  was  laid  in  the  will  of  the  whole 
people. 

Let  then  the  authority  of  heaven  and  the  highest  authority 
we  acknowledge  on  earth,  inspire  us  with  a  profound  love  to 


DUTIES    OF   EDUCATED   MEN.  299 

man  as  man.  Let  us  regard  man  in  whatever  station  we  find 
him  as  our  brother,  as  more  than  our  brother,  as  one  for  whom 
Christ  died,  whom  God  is  not  ashamed  to  call  his  son,  and  to 
offer  the  riches  of  an  eternal  glory.  Let  us  consider  no  dig- 
nity so  great  as  that  of  serving  him  whom  the  Father  of  honor 
and  virtue  has  made  the  recipient  of  those  offices  which  grati- 
tude for  divine  kindness  should  prompt,  and  whose  faculties  of 
thought,  range  of  affection,  capacities  for  happiness  or  misery, 
and  extent  of  influence  are  so  immeasurably  vast.  No  human 
engagement  approaches  so  near  the  perfect  work  of  Him  who 
was  God  with  man,  as  his,  who  labors  to  teach  the  multitude 
truth  and  goodness,  and  who  cares  less  for  the  applause  of  the 
proud  or  the  approbation  of  the  learned,  than  for  the  privilege 
of  uplifting,  by  a  power  more  stupendous  than  that  the  Syra- 
cusan  longed  for,  some  soul,  fallen  low  through  ignorance  and 
sin,  to  the  dignity  of  knowledge  and  virtue ;  nor  can  there  be 
motive  sufficient  for  persevei'ance  in  a  work  so  difficult,  except 
from  such  sympathy  as  our  Elder  Brother  felt  for  fallen  man. 
My  friends.  He  who  placed  bread  in  the  hands  of  his  disci- 
ples, and  multiplied  the  few  loaves  of  a  lad's  wallet  into  plenty 
for  a  multitude  of  thousands,  has  committed  to  you  the  gift  of 
knowledge,  whose  quality  is  to  multiply  in  the  hands  of  all 
who  dispense  it,  the  more  it  is  imparted.  Like  the  light  of 
the  sun  which  shines  not  the  less  when  he  makes  the  stars  of 
the  firmament  to  radiate  brightness,  is  the  light  of  truth  which 
has  shone  upon  your  minds,  that  you  may  be  centres  of  radi- 
ating knowledge  to  many  more. 

Without  such  a  determination  to  teach  the  people,  you  will 
be  unfaithful  to  your  dignity  as  citizens  of  a  free  democracy. 


800  DUTIES    OF   EDUCATED   MEN. 

There  are  those  among  us,  and  not  unfrequently  of  that  class 
whose  education  should  have  lifted  them  above  such  moral 
cowardice,  who  doubt  the  sufficiency  of  our  republican  institu- 
tions, and  express  sickly  fears  of  our  nation's  great  experi- 
ment, nay,  even  long  after  a  stronger,  by  which  they  mean  a 
more  aristocratic,  government.  Intent  upon  the  real  evils 
that  appertain  to  our  system,  (not  peculiar  to  it,  but  arising 
from  the  general  imperfection  of  every  thing  human,)  and 
looking  from  a  distance  at  the  royal  governments  of  the  old 
world,  where  the  few  maintain  their  wealth  and  luxurious 
ease  by  the  bayonet  that  drives  back  the  many,  they  are  ready 
to  pronounce  the  theory  false,  that  a  nation  may,  under  God, 
govern  themselves.  Shame  upon  them  for  asserting  that 
there  can  be  no  permanent  order  among  men  except  that  of 
paving  stones  beaten  down  and  fixed  in  the  earth,  over  which 
rank  and  riches  may  roll  in  triumphant  mastery !  Shame 
upon  them,  for  permitting  the  few  failures  and  difficulties 
which  must  be  expected  to  lie  in  the  way  of  every  scheme 
for  man's  advancement,  to  deaden  their  sensibility  to  the  ele- 
vating hope,  dictated  by  religion,  and  cherished  by  philan- 
thropy, that  man  may  be  free  and  rise  in  moral  dignity 
according  as  he  is  free !  Shame  upon  them  for  base  treason- 
able ingratitude  to  those  laws  which  maintain  for  them  and 
their  children  rights  never  before  possessed  by  a  people  on 
earth !  Shame  upon  them  for  their  degeneracy  from  that 
unequalled  ancestry  who  pledged  life,  fortune  and  sacred  honor 
to  the  support  of  principles  they  doubt,  and  of  privileges  they 
would  abandon !  Shame  upon  them,  I  say,  and  God  forbid 
that  any  of  you  should    ever  be  found   among  their  nar- 


DUTIES    OF   EDUCATED   MEN.  ^^t 

row-minded  faction,  or  take  up  their  puling  fears  into  your 
lips! 

But  at  the  same  time  that  we  would  cherish  strong  reliance 
upon  the  excellence  of  our  institutions,  we  must  always  re- 
member that  the  essential  strength  of  a  republic  is  a  commu- 
nity of  interests  and  an  interchange  of  benefits.  No  one  class 
of  our  people  or  section  of  our  country  could  be  safely  en- 
trusted with  the  government  of  the  rest  because  of  prejudices 
which  would  inevitably  arise.  The  advantage  of  our  system 
is,  that  while  it  promotes  a  reciprocity  of  good  offices,  preju- 
dices neutralize  prejudices  in  the  alembic  of  the  general  will, 
and  the  amalgam  produced  by  the  fusion  together  of  various 
opinions  and  policies,  is  far  better  than  could  be  expected  from 
any  other  method.  Each  individual  therefore  is  bound  by 
the  nature  of  our  government  to  contribute  as  much  as  he  can 
for  the  general  good  with  which  his  own  is  identified,  and 
whenever  any  one  refuses  thus  to  do  his  part,  the  action  of 
the  whole  must  be  necessarily  impaired.  But  it  has  been  too 
often  proved,  to  need  argument  now,  that  the  best  means  of 
republican  prosperity  are  knowledge  and  virtue.  It  is  your 
high  office  as  educated  men  to  contribute  both.  You  go  forth 
among  the  people  accredited  as  students  of  truth,  with  the 
consciousness  of  possessing  it,  and  the  skill  to  impart  it. 

The  people  look  for  such  service  at  the  hands  of  educated 
men.  They  are  willing  to  receive  it  from  you,  if  it  be  ren- 
dered, not  in  a  spirit  of  haughty  dictation,  nor  at  a  cold  dis- 
tance, but  with  a  generous  sympathy  and  a  courteous  respect. 
See  that  you  are  not  unfaithful  to  your  high  calling,  and  that 
you  do  not  dishonorably  withhold  from  your  country,  the  vast 

26 


302  DUTIES    OF   EDUCATED   MEN. 

blessings  Providence  has  fitted  you  to  bestow,  and  which  are 
vital  to  its  welfare.  Never  dare,  as  some  educated  drones 
among  us  have  dared,  to  censure  the  people's  errors  and  de- 
spair of  their  integrity,  while  you  hold  yourselves  aloof  from 
them,  or  refuse  any  effort  to  show  them  the  right.  If  our 
national  experiments  fail,  it  must  be  because  our  countrymen 
will  have  been  unfaithful  to  themselves.  See  to  it  that  you 
be  not  among  the  traitors,  for  the  citizen,  who  has  knowledge 
and  neglects  to  impart  it,  is  guilty  of  the  worst  treason.  The 
ignorant  and  brutal  wretch  who  joins  the  mob  in  outrage  and 
violence  against  the  laws,  is  not  so  criminal  as  they  who  might 
have  turned  his  early  feet  to  the  paths  of  intelligent  virtue, 
but  did  not.  You  must  not  think  to  despise  the  people  and  to 
be  secure  from  their  ruin.  They  are  the  foundation,  and 
when  that  fails,  wo  to  the  polished  pillar  and  the  carved  cor- 
nice !     The  ruin  will  be  universal  and  indiscriminate. 

I  need  not  describe  in  detail  the  various  methods  by  which 
in  this  age  of  advancement  you  may  impart  knowledge.  They 
are  and  always  will  be  sufficiently  obvious  to  a  willing  mind. 
Ever  be  found  the  advocates  of  education.  Testify,  by  the 
pains  you  take  to  spread  it,  your  sense  of  the  treasure  you 
have  yourselves  received.  Seize  every  fitting  opportunity  to 
impart  it  by  your  pen,  your  lips  and  your  influence.  Shrink 
from  the  burdens  and  responsibilities  of  no  ofiice  that  may 
enlarge  your  ability  to  do  this  good.  Be  the  open  and  fearless 
champions  of  all  legislation  in  aid  of  science  and  art  and  lit- 
erature. Stand  faithfully  by  those  public  men,  who  may  meet 
with  popular  prejudice  because  of  their  efforts  in  behalf  of  a 
policy  so  wise.     But  especially  devote  your  untiring  energies 


DUTIES    OF   EDUCATED    MEN.  303 

to  the  improvement  and  increase  of  Common  Schools.  The 
Athenian  pointed  to  the  splendid  Acropolis  with  exulting 
pride,  because  he  believed  that  there  in  the  matchless  Parthe- 
non, whose  pure  Pentelican  and  exquisite  proportions  are  still 
beyond  the  dreams  of  architectural  genius,  was  enshrined  the 
Palladium  of  his  country,  the  symbol  of  heavenly  knowledge  ; 
but  were  I  asked  to  declare  the  preserving  charm  of  our  be- 
loved country,  I  would  lead  the  inquirer  not  to  the  Capitoline 
height  where  legislators  but  express  the  popular  opinion,  nor 
even  to  the  halls  of  more  erudite  science  which  can  at  best  be 
trodden  by  few,  but  to  the  common  school-house.  There  the 
minds  that  rule  the  land  are  fashioned.  There,  under  God, 
the  destinies  of  the  nation  are  determined.  I  have  more  fear 
and  more  hope  from  the  troops  of  sturdy  youth  that  ply  their 
tasks  within,  or  their  sports  without  its  humble  threshold,  than 
from  all  the  mincing  fops  of  fashion,  or  the  mere  rich  that 
emulate  at  a  ridiculous  distance  the  pride  and  the  airs  of  for- 
eign aristocracy.  If  you  would  serve  your  country  well,  if 
you  would  guard  the  suffrages  of  our  free  people  from  the 
arts  of  the  demagogue,  and  nerve  their  hearts  against  the 
swindling  encroachments  of  those  who  would  buy  themselves 
into  power  with  the  very  money  of  the  state,  let  the  common, 
school  system  be  your  most  earnest  care ;  and  especially  the 
country  common  schools,  for  whatever  be  the  noise  and  pre- 
tension of  our  cities,  and  however  necessary  it  may  be  that 
the  youth  within  them  be  trained,  it  is  the  country,  the  hardy 
yeomanry,  who  eat  the  bread  of  their  own  honest  sweat,  that 
rule,  ever  have  ruled  and  will  rule  the  state. 

Popular  education  needs  greatly  your  watchfulness  and 


304  DUTIES    OF   EDUCATED   MEN. 

support,  because  the  system  we  have  is  far  from  perfect  in  its 
theory,  and  is  with  yet  greater  difficulty  carried  out  to  prac- 
tice from  the  Boeotian  prejudices  it  meets  with  among  the 
people  themselves.  It  is  with  much  pains  and  patience  that 
we  can  find  sufficient  consent  upon  their  part  to  affi)rd  a  ful- 
crum for  the  moral  lever,  and  the  greatest  obstacle  of  all  is 
their  unwillingness  to  affijrd  competent  teachers  sufficient 
wages.  The  boor  that  vociferates  over  his  team  is  better  paid 
than  the  moral  and  intellectual  guide  of  fifty  country  children. 
The  failures  of  incompetent  teachers  multiply  and  perpetuate 
misapprehensions  of  the  value  of  education.  Knowledge 
never  can  flourish  until  the  profession  of  the  teacher  be  held 
in  high  regard.  Let  it  be  your  aim  to  lead  the  way  in  such 
enlightened  homage.  Spare  no  pains,  spare  no  expense  with- 
in your  ability  to  establish  good  and  sufficient  teachers  in  your 
own  neighborhoods.  Show  by  every  token  of  unfeigned  re- 
spect and  hospitable  attention  your  regard  for  their  office  as 
of  the  best  dignity  and  worthy  the  best  rewards,  that  men  of 
superior  minds  may  be  won  to  dedicate  their  lives  to  a  work, 
which  they  now  pursue,  if  they  undertake  it  at  all,  with  a 
restless  impatience  of  its  unjust  obscurity  and  meagre  re- 
turns. 

Cherish  again  I  say  the  common  schools.  Polygnotus,  after 
he  had  painted  their  heroes  in  the  fresco  of  the  Pcecile,  lived, 
by  a  decree  of  the  Amphictyonic  council,  the  guest  of  all 
Greece !  The  Romans  filled  their  atria  and  their  public  pla- 
ces with  the  statues  of  their  illustrious  ancestors.  But  lar 
more  worthy  of  a  nation's  gratitude  is  he,  who  imprints  upon 
the  fresh  minds  of  the  young  lessons  that  shall  make  them 


DUTIES    OF   EDUCATED    MEN.  305 

living  examples  of  patriotic  virtue.  Far  richer  illustrations 
of  the  nation's  glory  shall  those  minds  he  which  have  been 
early  moulded  into  moral  beauty  and  animated  by  fire  from 
heaven,  brought  down,  not  by  sacrilegious  theft,  but  prayer. 

I  speak  in  no  disparagement  of  the  Fine  Arts.  They  have 
their  high  moral  uses.  Would  that  they  were  more  cherished 
among  us !  But  there  is  no  art  so  godlike  as  the  education  of 
young  minds  in  truth.  It  is  the  nearest  approach  man  can 
make  to  creating  power. 

It  is  the  duty  of  educated  men  to  maintain  a  freedom  from 
prejudices. 

Prejudices  are  opinions  held  without  sufficient  reason.  A 
prejudice  is  not  always  in  favor  of  error,  but  without  due  ex- 
amination we  can  never  know  error  from  truth.  All  preju- 
dices therefore  should  meet  with  your  unsparing  condemna- 
tion. Narrow  or  uncultivated  minds  are  inevitably  subject  to 
prejudice,  because  they  are  called  to  judge  and  act  with  refer- 
ence to  matters  of  which  they  cannot  have  sufficient  know- 
ledge ;  and  thus  it  is  that  we  see  such  numbers  of  enthusiastic 
adherents  to  the  most  absurd  theories,  moral,  political,  and 
religious.  It  would  be  the  extreme  of  harshness  to  condemn 
every  follower  of  false  doctrines,  as  wilfully  and  knowingly  a 
deceiver.  The  greater  part  verily  believe  that  they  are  in 
the  service  of  truth.  It  is  their  honesty  that  makes  them  so 
zealous  and  mischievous.  But  God  has  bestowed  upon  us 
mind  that  we  may  be  guided  by  truth  alone,  and  by  truth 
alone  should  we  allow  ourselves  to  be  convinced,  else  our 
reason  sinks  below  the  surer  instincts  of  the  brute.  Even 
Christian  faith  is  but  a  higher  reason,  drawing  her  legitimate 
26* 


306  DUTIES    OF   EDUCATED   MEN. 

condusions  from  that  which  she  knows  upon  sufficient  data  to 
be  the  testimony  of  the  Father  of  truth.  Tou  have  been 
thus  carefuUv  educated  that  you  might  be  able  to  examine 
facts  and  make  correct  induction  from  them.  It  will  then  be 
a  monstrous  abuse  of  your  cultivated  strength,  if  you  devote 
it  to  any  service  but  that  of  truth,  or  if  you  fail  to  carry  on  a 
constant  and  unsparing  war  against  prejudice  of  every  kind. 
In  the  contest  waging  between  darkness  and  light  there  can 
be  no  neutrality.  "  He  that  is  not  with  me  is  against  me,  and 
he  that  gathereth  not  with  me  scattereth  abroad,"  is  the  de- 
claration of  the  Great  Teacher  of  truth.  "  Ye  shall  know 
tfae  truth,"  said  he  again,  "  and  the  truth  shall  make  you  free." 
While,  however,  education  is  meant  to  free  us  from  prejudice, 
it  by  no  means  follows  that  the  cultivated  mind  is  entirely 
CBMUidpated,  until  education  be  carried  to  that  highest  pitch 
which  is  only  known  in  the  spiritual  sphere  of  perfect  light 
Tliere  are  prejudices  arising  from  defects  in  education  itself; 
prejudices  that  lie  deep  in  our  corrupt  nature,  growing  with 
oar  growth ;  prejudices  whose  seeds  have  been  sown  in  our 
early  childhood ;  prejudices  derived  from  the  associates  or 
guardians  of  our  youthful  days,  out  of  the  respect  and  venera- 
tion we  have  for  those,  whom  we  have  been  accustomed  to 
r^ard  as  authority  and  example ;  prejudices  from  a  false  no- 
tion of  self-interest,  pride  of  consistency,  or  attachment  to  sect, 
party  or  country. 

I  would  be  far  fix)m  asserting  that  great  deference  is  not 
due  especially  from  the  young,  to  superiors  in  age  or  in  wis- 
dom, and  readily  condemn  the  plausible,  but  hurtful  notion ; 
that  the  youthful  mind  should  receive  nothing  as  true  which 


DiniES   OF  EDirCATSD   MOt,  §07 


it  has  not  of  itself  discovered  to  be  true.  It  is  &e  order  of 
Providence  that  we  should  be  mentallv,  as  wdl  as  ^bpaeaSfy, 
dependent,  until  we  have  reached  a  proper  Btatarity.  The 
first  lesson  of  true  education  is  not  to  think  for  oaiselves,  boi 
to  learn  how  to  think,  how  to  use  oar  mental  instruraenis^  and 
when  we  have  acquired  such  skill,  and  not  imdl  fcben,  are  we 
to  suppose  our  apprenticeship  complete-  Neither  iradd  I  ^Big 
a  mature  mind  loose  to  act  for  itself  as  though  mind  faadnerar 
preceded  it,  and  all  the  knowledge  that  has  come  down  to  us 
with  the  signatures  of  the  wise  and  good  in  past  agea^  ataiBr 
ed,  as  it  were,  through  the  scrutinj  of  long  tane,  irere  to  be 
treated  as  doubtfuL  It  is  not  prejudice  bot  leaBOOf  whoA 
hesitates  to  reject  such  established  priaei|^es,.  nntH  tbey  bane 
been  most  severely  and  elaborately  e^tamiiied.  SatBOtwi&- 
standing  these  admissions,  vou  should  laj  k  dovm  as  and^  Aat 
prejudice,  as  such,  is  to  be  rooted  out  and  guarded  »^imsk  as 
fer  as  possible  by  educated  men.  Truth  never  kses  by  ex- 
amination. That  which  shm^  tbe  I^ift  is  error,  tmify  eisai^ 
and  that  continually. 

Thus,  some  pious  but  weak  p^soos^  bam;  bad  fans  AaiAe 
advancing  light  of  science  is  adverse  to  rR^JMay  aad  tbai  tbe 
skepticism,  which  unhappily  sometiDa^  ebaracteriies  men  of 
science  who  are  too  intent  upon  nature  to  biok  i^  to  natMW?^ 
Grod,  is  a  proper  occasion  of  doubt  whetha*  siniBntifii'  stafies 
be  favorable  to  iuith.  That  science;,  like  eveij  v&er  ^&  of 
God  may  be  perverted  by  irreHgious  hearts  to  san,  no  one  em 
deny.  Tbe  sun  itself  gives  light  for  the  oonmassiaB  of  i^ 
numenible  crimes ;  and  yet  lar  nuure  and  worse  apreeoBunilted 
mider  cover  oi  darkness.     So  skqplidaaa  and  fiatgetfidness  <if 


308  DUTIES    OF  EDUCATED    MEN. 

the  true  Grod  and  all  the  sad  results  of  such  moral  destitution 
abound  far  more  in  abodes  of  ignorance  than  in  those  of  learn- 
ing. It  cannot  be  that  infidelity  is  a  legitimate  effect  of  science. 
The  Author  of  nature  is  the  Author  of  the  Bible,  and  if  to 
our  minds  they  ever  seem  to  be  in  opposition,  it  must  be  be- 
cause we  read  one  or  the  other,  perhaps  both,  wrong.  "  A 
little  philosophy,"  said  the  writer  of  the  Novum  Organum, 
"  inclineth  a  man's  mind  to  atheism,  (just  as  people  who  know 
but  very  little  are  apt  to  be  very  presumptuous  upon  that 
little,)  but  depth  in  philosophy  bringeth  a  man's  mind  about 
to  religion."  Newton,  and  Bacon,  and  Locke,  to  whom  we 
are  principally  indebted  for  the  revival  of  science,  were  devout 
advocates  of  revelation ;  while  Cuvier,  and  Whewell,  and 
Buckland  and  Babbage  may  be  fearlessly  cited  to  show,  that 
in  the  pure  and  elevated  atmosphere  of  their  science,  the  mir- 
ror of  nature  reflects  more  distinctly  the  image  of  God.  Be- 
tween the  periods  of  the  former  and  latter  classes  of  names, 
the  attempts  of  Hobbes  and  Shaftsbury,  and  Monboddo,  of 
Voltaire,  Helvetius,  Hume  and  a  host  of  infidels  minorum 
gentium,  to  destroy  religion  by  false  facts  from  almost  every 
branch  of  science,  have  met  with  radical  defeat.  The  chro- 
nology of  the  Chinese  and  the  fabulous  pretensions  of  the  Hin- 
dus were  invoked  with  only  brief  exultation.  The  material- 
ism of  the  last  generation  is  now  driven  before  the  ideal 
philosophy,  itself  full  of  error,  but  destined,  as  we  trust,  when 
it  has  done  its  work,  to  subside  into  the  media  via  of  truth. 
The  records  of  the  Pyramids  have  given  forth  their  hierogly- 
phic testimony  to  the  sacred  record.  Astronomy  with  her 
eclipses  tells  of  the  glory  of  the  God  of  grace ;  and  when  the 


DUTIES    OF   EDUCATED    MEN.  309 

geologist  has  penetrated  to  the  lowest  stratum  of  our  globe, 
he  is  made  to  re-echo  the  exclamation  of  the  man  of  God : 
"  Thou,  Lord,  in  the  beginning  hast  laid  the  foundations  of 
the  earth."  Well  may  we  use  the  strong  language  of  your 
justly  honored  President*  (who,  let  us  trust,  wiU  soon  be  re- 
stored to  you,  his  rich  mind  yet  more  adorned  with  the  treas- 
ures he  has  been  collecting  from  foreign  fields,  his  warm 
patriotism  yet  more  confirmed  by  observation  of  regal  and 
aristocratic  tyranny,  and  his  pious  soul  glowing  from  his  pil- 
grimage in  that  land, 

"  Over  whose  acres  walked  those  blessed  feet 
Which,  eighteen  hundred  years  ago,  were  nail'd 
For  our  advantage  on  the  bitter  cross"— 

to  assume  with  yet  more  distinguished  success  his  responsibile 
position ;)  "  Religion  and  literature,  (in  which  he  includes 
scientific  treatises)  are  mutual  helpmates  to  the  knowledge, 
love  and  glory  of  God." 

Be  it  then  your  care,  my  educated  friends,  to  vindicate  the 
moral  honor  of  science  from  the  ignorant  prejudices  of  even 
pious  men.  Follow,  fearlessly  follow  truth  in  nature,  as  an 
angel  sent  to  lead  you  to  a  walk  with  God.  The  mighty  chain 
of  cause  and  effect  has  been  let  down  upon  earth,  that  we  may 
trace  its  links  upward  to  the  supreme  height  where  it  is  rivet- 
ed in  the  throne  of  the  Lord  God  Almighty  and  the  Lamb. 
Remember  that  the  same  iron  hand,  which  crushed  Galileo 
because  he  dared  to  teach  truth  in   science,  locked   up   the 

*  The  Rev.  Dr.  Durbin,  then  abroad. 


310  DUTIES    OF   EDUCATED   MEN. 

Word  of  Life  from  the  poor,  and  asserted  its  terrific  rule  by 
the  dungeon,  the  thumb-screw,  the  rack  and  the  flame. 

I  have  selected  this  unfounded  fear  of  science  as  a  strong 
instance  of  the  power  which  prejudice  has  to  make  a  good 
man  opposed  to  a  good  thing.  We  have  no  time  for  further 
examples. 

It  may,  however,  be  asserted  in  brief,  that  higoiry  in  all  its 
forms  is  a  manifestation  of  prejudice. 

Bigotry  has  been  defined  to  be  a  blind  zeal  in  favor  of  par- 
ticular opinions  accompanied,  as  it  always  is,  by  a  denuncia- 
tory spirit  against  all  who  differ  from  us.  Unhesitating  con- 
demnation of  those  who  cannot  think  as  we  think,  is  a  clear 
evidence  that  our  belief  is  founded  on  prejudice,  for  we  show 
ourselves  unwilling  to  allow  their  impartial  investigation. 
From  the  imperfection  of  the  human  mind  and  the  wide  varie- 
ty of  our  tempers  and  circumstances,  there  must  be  differences 
of  opinion  among  men ;  and  it  is  through  the  war  of  opinions 
that  truth  is  discovered  and  established.  Justice  should  grant 
every  man  the  same  right  to  think  for  himself  that  we  claim 
for  ourselves ;  and  a  fair  charity  should  suppose  him  to  be  as 
honest  in  his  creed  as  we  are  in  our  own.  We  may  believe 
him  to  be  in  error,  his  errors  hurtful,  and  his  arguments  so- 
phistical or  unfair,  yet,  from  his  peculiar  bias,  he  may  not  see 
the  danger  or  the  sophism,  and  the  proper  method  of  meeting 
the  mischief  we  apprehend,  is  open,  manly,  courteous  argu- 
ment. That  much  immediate  evil  may  result  from  free  dis- 
cussion, is  true ;  so  there  may  from  the  electric  storm  which 
clears  the  atmosphere ;  but  far  greater  evil  would  occur,  as 
history  proves,  from  the  prohibition  of  it.     The  arbitrary 


DUTIES    OF   EDUCATED   MEN.  311 

power  which  at  first  ordains  truth,  may  soon  decree  falsehood, 
and  the  confessor  of  truth  be  burned  in  the  flame  kindled  for 
the  heretic.  We  suffer  keenly  if  we  be  denounced  for  our 
opinions ;  and  the  Gospel  rule  should  deter  us  from  inflicting 
upon  others  what  we  would  deprecate  for  ourselves. 

This  is  the  spirit  of  the  Master  in  religion.  If  ever  He 
loses  his  characteristic  gentleness  in  the  sternness  of  condem- 
nation, it  is  against  those  who  uncharitably  condemn  others. 
An  arrogation  of  infallibility  is  Anti-Christ,  whether  it  wear 
the  Papal  scarlet,  the  prelatical  lawn,  the  Genevan  cloak,  the 
Quaker  drab,  or  the  plain  coat  of  the  Methodist.  It  is  pre- 
posterous not  to  admit  that  honest  difierences  of  opinion  may 
exist.  As  John  Wesley  says:  "How  soon  was  unanimity  lost 
and  differences  sprung  up  in  the  church  of  Christ,  and  that 
not  in  nominal  but  in  real  Christians,  nay,  in  the  very  chief 
of  them,  the  apostles  themselves !  Nor  does  it  appear  that 
the  differences  which  then  began  were  ever  entirely  removed. 
It  is,  therefore,  no  way  surprising  that  infinite  varieties  of 
opinion  should  now  be  found  in  the  Christian  church."  And 
that  great  and  good  man,  who  is  now  rejoicing  in  the  perfect 
light  where  no  shadow  is  known,  lays  down  the  rule  (God 
give  us  grace  to  follow  it!)  that  when  we  see  one  doing  good, 
casting  out  devils  in  the  name  of  Christ,  we  should  acknowl- 
edge, love,  assist,  and  pray  for  him,  though  in  other  things  he 
follow  not  us.  Consider,  my  friends,  that  but  for  open  argu- 
ment the  Jewish  Sanhedrim  and  the  Gentile  tyrant  had 
crushed  Christianity  in  its  birth ;  the  false  systems  of  heathen- 
ism had  never  been  overthrown,  nor  the  glorious  Reformation 
ever  dissipated  the  foul  darkness  of  the  middle  ages.    I  know 


312  DUTIES    OF   EDUCATED   MEN. 

that  controversy  often  rages  like  a  conflagration,  but  though  it 
may  consume  the  "wood,  hay,  and  stubble,"  which  human 
wisdom  has  heaped  upon  the  truth,  the  precious  foundation  is 
safe  and  indestructible. 

Like  every  other  prejudice,  religious  bigotry  prevails  mostly 
among  the  weak  and  illiterate,  though  they  are  too  often  led 
away  by  men  who  know  better  and  do  worse.  Those  who 
have  argued  away  their  own  doubts,  should  know  how  to  sym- 
pathize with  minds  struggling  against  error. 

Be  it,  therefore,  your  aim  as  educated  men,  to  set  a  high 
example  of  religious  charity,  whatever  may  be  the  creed  you 
see  fit  to  adopt.  Though  your  zeal  may  blaze  against  error, 
let  it  be  toward  the  errorist  as  the  genial  flame  of  love  which 
warms  not  hurts,  cherishes  but  not  devours.  Account  what- 
ever divides  the  hearts  of  Christians,  Christ's  followers,  certain 
heresy.  It  is  most  impudent  forgery  to  write  "  Catholic " 
upon  the  architrave  of  a  system,  which  excludes  from  the 
grace  of  God  all  who  wear  not  our  bonds.  Little  can  be  said 
of  their  intelligence,  who  can  assign  no  reason  for  preferring 
their  own  sect;  but  he  who  considers  not  the  name  of  Christian 
as  higher  than  sect,  is  not  worthy  to  bear  it. 

It  is  not  only  among  religionists  that  bigotry  is  found.  Po- 
litical prejudice  produces  the  same  denunciatory  and  malignant 
spirit.  What  vile  words  and  reproachful  accusations  are 
bandied  between  contending  parties  ?  Neither  the  sanctities 
of  social  life,  domestic  peace,  nor  jDersonal  character  are  safe 
from  the  recklessness  of  party  rage.  Such  rancor  is  a  painful 
contrast  with  the  true  nature  of  our  institutions.  Our  fathers 
wrested  these  states  from  foreign  domination  in  the  firm  con- 


DUTIES    OF    EDUCATED    MEN.  313 

viction  that  they  had  the  right  and  ability  to  govern  them- 
selves. The  prohibition  of  primary  popular  assemblies,  in 
which  the  public  welfare  might  be  freely  discussed,  and  public 
measures  fearlessly  pronounced  upon,  was  justly  considered 
by  them  most  dangerous  tyranny ;  and  their  great  care  seema 
to  have  been  to  make  political  opinion  free,  and  to  protect  us 
in  the  exercise  of  this  right  purchased  at  such  cost  of  sacrifice^ 
suffering  and  blood.  For  what  end  were  we  delivered  from 
royal  tyranny,  if  our  brethren  are  to  enchain  our  opinion,  or 
we  theirs  ?  or  if  a  citizen,  for  declaring  his  honest  belief,  be 
subject  to  pains  and  penalties,  which  sensitive  mind  feels  as 
severely  as  though  they  were  enacted  by  law?  In  what  man- 
ner is  the  popular  will,  the  legitimate  sovereign  of  the  land,  tO' 
be  known,  if  we  be  hampered  and  threatened  and  persecuted 
for  the  expression  of  our  own  ?  The  man  who  could  so  muzzle 
the  voice  of  his  fellow  citizen  is  himself  in  heart  a  despot.  Nay,. 
in  such  case  it  might  well  be  doubted  whether  one  master  were 
not  better  than  many. 

Besides,  our  government  is  emphatically  one  of  experiments 
There  has  never  been  one  like  it  on  the  earth,  and  few  precise 
precedents  can  be  cited  for  its  rule.  Not  a  few  fair  hypotheses 
have  been  by  the  test  of  practice  proved  to  be  false.  Not  a  few 
have  been  originated  and  been  established  as  true.  Not  a  few 
remain  yet  to  be  decided  upon  in  the  progress  of  events.  As 
is  the  case  with  every  practical  inquiry,  there  must  be  failui'es, 
mistakes,  and  costly  disappointments.  How  very  important, 
therefore,  that  there  be  a  thorough,  fearless  searching  of  every 
public  question  ?  and  that  all  possible  light  be  thrown  upon  rt 
by  the  reasoning  of  every  mind  ?  Instead  of  denouncing  those 
27 


314  DUTIES    OF   EDUCATED    MEN. 

who  differ  from  us  in  their  notions  of  what  is  safe,  beneficial 
or  expedient,  we  should  thank  them  for  adding  their  scrutiny 
to  our  own  of  all  that  concerns  our  beloved  country.  He, 
who  has  the  foresight  and  the  courage  to  lift  a  warning  voice 
against  dangers  hidden  in  some  specious  measure,  seducing 
the  hearts  of  the  people  with  the  promise  of  rapid  prosperity ; 
or,  who  can  penetrate  through  the  veil  which  present  circum- 
stances throw  over  them  to  the  few  simple  laws  impressed  by 
the  Almighty  hand  upon  civil  economy,  and  present  them  to 
the  light  as  axioms  no  expediency  should  disregard  or  oppose, 
deserves  more  than  a  warrior's  crown.  He  lives  for  his 
country,  which  is  even  more  happy  and  honorable  than  to  die 
for  it.  Alas!  what  mischiefs  have  fallen  upon  us  through  the 
drowning  by  popular  clamor  of  some  such  prophet-like  warn- 
ings !  Is  it  wise,  is  it  brave,  is  it  patriotic  to  shut  our  eyes 
and  ears  to  what  may  be  truth,  before  we  have  heard  its  rea- 
sons, or  pondered  its  arguments  ?  Though  danger  may  have 
been  sometimes  prophesied  falsely,  is  it  prudence  to  withdraw 
the  sentinel  from  the  gate  ?  Shall  we  forbid  the  alarm  in  a 
love  of  false  security  ?  Then  may  the  fate  of  the  Laconians 
on  the  Italian  shore  be  ours. 

"Arayclas,  cum  tacerent.  perdidit  silontium."* 

Are  we  to  make  no  advances  in  the  science  of  government, 

when  every  other  science  is  striding   onward  ?     Did   reform 

reach  its  acme  before  our  fathers  died  ?    Shall  we  reject  every 

novel   doctrine  as   necessarily  error  ?     Shall  we  fling  away 

*Cat:  Pervig:  Yen:  92. 


DUTIES    OP   EDUCATED   MEN.  315 

that  common  sense  for  which  our  countrymen  are  remarkable 
over  Europeans,  especially  those  arrogant  Islanders,  who  are 
ever  under  the  prejudices  of  long  usage,  and  cannot  think  of 
a  nation  without  crown,  lords  and  commons,  nor  imagine  a 
judge  without  a  wig,  nor  dream  of  Christianity  without  tithes, 
nor  dare  to  replace  a  beam  in  their  rotten  fabric  lest  the  whole 
mass  topple  down  upon  their  heads  ?  No,  our  fathers  left  us 
free.  Free  let  us  live !  When  the  right  of  discussion  falls 
beneath  the  poisoned  steel  of  factious  tyranny,  let  us  fold  our 
faces  in  our  mantles  and  die  with  it;  for  then  will  all  our  liber- 
ties be  the  prey  of  the  gambler,  the  gladiator,  and  the  usurer. 
Then,  Good-night  to  republicanism!  The  last  ray  of  political 
hope  will  have  ceased  to  shine. 

Be  it  your  care,  my  educated  friends,  not  only  to  rise  above 
such  ignoble  prejudice,  but  to  rebuke  and  destroy  it.  I  do 
not  say,  unite  yourselves  w^ith  no  party.  By  mere  individual, 
isolated  action,  you  will  waste  your  strength.  It  is  Quix- 
otism to  ride  forth  a  single  knight,  and  think  to  carry  all  by 
your  own  lance.  It  is  folly,  and  worse  than  folly,  to  refuse 
a  union  to  carry  gi^eat  public  measures  with  those  who  differ 
from  us  in  minor  particulars.  Learn  cheerfully  to  compro- 
mise in  the  less,  that  you  may  attain  the  greater.  Neither 
confine  your  regards  for  your  country's  welfare  to  what  is 
bounded  by  its  shore.  Study  deeply  the  history  of  past  com- 
monwealths. Mark  the  rocks  upon  which  the  republics  of 
Greece  and  Italy  and  the  Netherlands  have  struck.  Search 
out  the  elements  of  their  greatness.  Make  yourselves  thor- 
oughly acquainted  with  Political  Economy,  which,  despite  the 
abuse  that  has  been  heaped  upon  it,  as  mere  theory,  cold, 


316  DUTIES    OF   EDUCATED    MEN. 

abstract,  and  uncertain,  aims  next  to  Christianity  itself  for  the 
happiness  of  mankind.  Lay  fast  hold  of  the  laws  God  himself 
has  given  to  the  commerce  and  products  of  nations,  and  which 
like  his  other  laws,  can  never  be  violated  without  a  consequence 
of  penalty.  Then,  stand  forth  as  freemen,  as  patriots,  as  men 
of  science  and  truth,  and  demonstrate  the  interests  of  the  people 
to  the  American  mind  and  heart.  This  is  your  oflBce,  let  it  be 
your  glory  and  reward! 

My  friends,  there  were  many  advices  more  I  would  have 
wished  in  the  earnestness  of  my  friendship  to  give  you.  But 
the  courteous  attention  with  which  you  have  listened  to  me 
must  not  be  abused.  Very  pleasant  has  it  been  to  me  thus  to 
linger  beside  the  pure  waters,  and  beneath  the  shades  of  our 
Alma  Mater. 

Mater,  longe  ante  alios  mitissima! 

Other  and  not  less  pleasant  duties  are  waiting  for  us ;  and 
then  we  must  part.  The  time  of  rest  is  not  yet.  Now  we 
must  sow  the  seed.  The  harvest  is  in  eternity.  Our  country, 
the  world,  the  cause  of  truth,  and  the  religion  of  our  God  are 
calling  for  us.  Bend  your  young  shoulders  to  the  honorable 
burdens,  for  His  sake,  who  bore  the  cross  for  us.  Remember 
you  carry  with  you  the  credit  of  science,  the  reputation  of  your 
teachers,  the  name  of  your  Alma  Mater.  Act  worthy  of  the 
trust.  Above  all,  remember  that  you  are  not  your  own.  You 
belong  to  God.  You  can  only  prevail  by  His  strength.  You 
are  responsible  at  his  judgment  seat.  After  all  your  studies 
« the  fear  of  the  Lord  that  is  wisdom,  and  to  depart  from  evil 


DUTIES    OF   EDUCATED    MEN.  317 

that  is  understanding."    Make  His  word  your  guide,  His  grace 
your  confidence,  His  approbation  your  aim.    Do  tour  duty, 

AT  ALL  TIMES,  IN  ALL  PLACES,  AND  TO  ALL  MEN. 

Trials  you  must  have.  Severe  disappointments  will  often 
try  your  courage.  Injustice  and  ingratitude  often  venomously 
sting  in  your  hearts.  But  hold  on  your  way,  and  you  shall 
have  within  you,  a  wealth  of  noble  thoughts,  memories  of  noble 
actions,  hopes  of  a  noble  felicity.  So  dear  to  you  will  the 
path  of  duty  become  from  faithful  habit,  that  when  old  age  shall 
gently  wither  your  strength,  (and  may  God  grant  that  you  may 
live  long  as  you  are  useful !)  you  will  be  found  tottering  on  to 
honor  and  immortality.*  You  shall  go  down  toward  your  grave 
calmly,  and  without  a  fear.  Your  names  shall  be  written  in 
heaven  and  cherished  on  earth.  There  will  be  tears  for  your 
death  when  your  spirits  are  with  God. 

*  TO  Tov  TToSbg  fj,ev  (ipadv,  to  tov  6e  vov  Taxv.     Eur.  luv.  755. 


27* 


TRUTH  THE  STRENGTH  OF  FREEDOM. 


A    DISCOURSE 


ON 


THE   DUTY   OF   A   PATRIOT, 


iOMB  AILUSIONS  TO  THE  LIFE  AND  DEATH 

OF 

ANDREW  JACKSON. 

Frorouncxd  Jult  6, 1845. 


(published  bt  bequest.) 


DISCOURSE. 


PSALM  78  :  5,  6,  7. 
For  he  established  a  testimony  in  jacob,  and  appointed  a  law 
in  israel,  avhich  he  commanded  ouk  fathkrs  that  thet 
should  make  them  known  to  their  children;  that  the 
generation  to  come  might  know  them,  even  the  children 
which  should  be  born,  who  should  arise  and  declare  them 
to  their  children,  that  thet  might  set  their  hope  in  god,  and 
not  forget  the  works  of  god,  but  keep  hjs  commandments. 

Among  our  many  national  sins,  there  is  none  more  likely 
to  provoke  divine  chastisement,  yet  less  considered  or  repent- 
ed of,  even  by  Christians,  than  ingratitude  for  political  bless- 
ings. That  there  are  evils  among  us,  no  one  will  deny ;  that 
changes  might  be  made  for  the  better,  it  were  unreasonable  to 
doubt  ;  and,  concerning  methods  of  removing  evil  or  working 
good,  we  may  differ  widely  yet  honestly.  Evil  is  inseparable 
from  human  nature,  the  best  human  schemes  are  capable  of 
improvement,  and  human  opinions  must  be  various,  because 
they  are  fallible.  It  is  a  narrow,  unthankful  spirit,  which, 
brooding  over  imperfections,  or  sighing  after  greater  advanta- 
ges, or  bitterly  condemning  all  who  think  not  the  same  way, 
refuses  to  perceive  and  acknowledge  the  vast  benefits  we 


322  DUTY   OF   A   PATRIOT. 

I  actually  enjoy.  Never  was  there  a  revolution  at  once  so  just 
and  so  successful  as  that  which  won  our  country's  independ- 
ence ;  never,  except  in  the  Bible,  have  the  rights  of  man 
been  so  clearly  and  truly  defined  as  in  our  constitution  ;  never 
did  greater  success  attend  a  social  experiment  than  has  fol- 
lowed ours.  Since  the  establishment  of  our  confederacy, 
tumults,  rebellions,  and  violent  changes,  have  been  busy  in  all 
the  civilized  world  besides.  Throne  after  throne  has  fallen, 
and  dynasties  have  been  built  up  on  the  bloody  ruins  of  dy- 
nasties. In  some  nations,  the  people  have  wrung,  by  force, 
partial  concessions  from  hereditary  rule  ;  in  others,  after  con- 
vulsive, misdirected  efforts,  they  have  been  crushed  again  by 
the  iron  hoof  of  despotism ;  nor  is  the  voice  of  a  prophet 
needed  to  foretell  a  long,  desperate  struggle  of  uprising  hu- 
manity with  the  powers  of  political  darkness ;  while  the  bloody 
discords  and  cons'tant  confusion  of  other  republics  on  the  same 
continent  with  ourselves,  demonstrate  the  incompatibility  of 
freedom  with  ignorance  and  superstition.  There  are  few 
monarchical  governments  in  Christendom  as  old  as  ours.  The 
increase  of  our  population  from  less  than  three  millions  to 
twenty,  in  seventy  years,  multiplies  many  times  any  former 
example ;  yet,  notwithstanding  the  enormous  migration  to  us 
from  various  countries,  where  free  principles  are  unknown, 
our  wide  land  has  more  than  enough  room  for  all :  growth  in 
numbers  has  been  a  chief  cause  of  our  growth  in  wealth,  and 
our  laws,  strong  as  they  are  liberal,  have  proved  themselves 
sufl&cient  to  compose,  maintain  and  rule  all  in  concord,  pros- 
I  perity  and  power.  You  will  search  in  vain  for  another  ex- 
( ample  of  a  vast  nation  governed,  without  troops  or  armed 


DUTY   OF   A   PATRIOT.  323 

police,  by  their  own  will.  It  is  not  five  years  since,  that  our 
people,  spread  out  over  an  immense  territory,  after  a  contest 
in  which  the  utmost  enthusiasm  excited  both  parties,  changed 
their  rulers.  Yet  not  a  bayonet  was  fixed,  nor  a  cannon 
pointed,  nor  a  barricade  raised,  to  guard  the  place  of  suffrage. 
The  ballot,  falling  noiselessly  as  snow  upon  the  rock,  achieved 

Ithe  result.  Within  the  last  twelvemonth,  the  stupendous  pro- 
cess has  been  repeated  as  peaceably  and  safely.  Each  of  the 
great  political  sects,  which  divide  the  popular  vote,  has  tri- 
umphed and  been  beaten.  Much  there  has  been  to  censure 
in  the  harsh  recrimination  and  unfraternal  bigotry  on  either 
side;  but  when  the  decision  was  reached,  though  the  long- 
rolling  swells  which  succeed  the  storm  did  not  at  once  subside, 
and  here  and  there  some  violent  partisan  may  have  betrayed 
his  vexation,  the  surface  became  calm,  and  the  noise  soon  died 
'  away.  Every  true  patriot,  submissive  to  the  oracle  of  the 
polls,  whether  wisdom  or  error,  said  in  bis  heart,  God  bless 
THE  people  ! 

i     Our  difficulties,  real  or  supposed,  have  arisen  out  of  our 
r advantages,  for  good  and  evil  are   mixed  with  all  human  af- 
fairs.    The  freedom  of  those  institutions,   under  Avhich  we 
live,  has  its  price,  which  must  be  paid,  so  long  as  man  is  prone 
to  abuse,  by  impatience  and  excess,  those  favors  of  Almighty 
{God,  which  yield  happiness  only  when  they  are  used  moder- 
I  lately  and  religiously.     Elated  by  prosperity,  we  have  forced 
I  Jour  growth  too  fast.     We  have  attempted,  by  plausible  inven- 
ytions,  to  transcend  the  laws  of  trade  and  production.     We 
j  Shave  complicated  the  machinery  of  our  interests,  until  our 
I  Iclear,  simple  constitution  lias  become,  und(T  the  hands  of  so- 


M 


324  DUTY    OF   A   PATRIOT. 

phisticating  politicians,  a  riddle  of  mysteries.  The  limits  of 
habitation  have  been  enlarged  beyond  the  blessings  of  church 
and  school-house.  Vices  and  faults,  peculiar  to  new  settle- 
iments,  have  reached  the  heart  of  our  legislation.  To  carry 
iOn  our  far-grasping  schemes,  we  have  strained  our  credit  till 
i  lit  broke.  Freedom  of  speech  and  of  the  press,  has  been 
,bused  to  licentiousness  by  prejudice,  rashness,  and  selfish 
mbition.  Acknowledging  as  we  do  the  rights  of  conscience 
i/in  their  broadest  meaning,  even  the  holy  name  of  religion  has 
been  dragged  upon  the  arena  of  party. 

Our  republic  is  not  a  paradise  ;  our  countrymen,  like  our- 
selves, are  not  angels,  but  frail,  erring  men.     Our  history  has 
been  an  experiment.     Mistakes  have  been  made  and  will  be 
made.     It  is  thus  that  we  are  to  learn.     Shall  we,  in  coward 
skepticism,  overlook  our  immense  advantages  to  hang  our  fears 
upon  a  few  faults,  or  prognosticate  the  failure  of  a  system 
which  has  accomplished  so  much,  because  it  shares  with  others 
the  imperfections  of  humanity  ?      Is  there  a  sober-minded 
man  among  us,  who  would  be   willing  to  encounter  the  op- 
pressions of  what  are  called  strong  governments,  that  he  might 
[escape  from  under  our  present  system?     Our  faults  are  our 
jown,  and  our  misfortunes  are  consequences  of  our  faults  ;  but 
lour  political  advantages  are  God's  rich  gifts,  which  it  becomes 
jus  thankfully  to  receive  and  piously  to  improve.     All  our 
j  evils  have  their  legitimate  remedies,  and  there  is  no  dan- 
ger which  may  not  be  avoided  by  a  wise  care.      Instead, 
therefore,    of    querulous    fears    and    ungrateful    discontent, 
i  the    Christian   patriot    should    zealously    ask   what   he    can 
jdo   to  secure    and   advance    the   best   welfare    of  our    be- 


DUTY   OF   A   PATRIOT.  325 

loved   land.      Our  holy   text  is  full   of  instruction   to  this 
end. 

The  Psalmist  is  describing  the  policy  of  God  with  Israel, 
the  people  whom  he  wished  to  know  no  king  but  himself,  and 
therefore,  the  only  safe  policy  for  any  people,  who  would  pre- 
serve their  liberties  from  the  encroachments  of  despotic 
rule. 

"  He  established  a  testimony  in  Jacob,  and  appointed  a  law 
in  Israel,  which  he  commanded  our  fathers  that  they  should 
make  them  known  to  their  children ;  that  the  generation  to 
come  might  know  them,  even  the  children  which  should  be 
born ;  who  should  arise  and  declare  them  to  their  children,. 
that  they  might  set  their  hopes  in  Grod,  and  not  forget  the 
works  of  God,  but  keep  his  commandments." 

We  see  here, 

First  :  The  character  op  a  safe  and  happy  people. 

"  They  set  their  hopes  in  God ;  they  forget  not  the  works 
of  God ;  they  keep  his  commandments." 

Secondly:  The  means  which  God  has  appointed 
for  cultivating  this  character. 

"  He  established  a  law  in  Jacob,  and  appointed  a  testimony 
in  Israel." 

Thirdly  :  The  obligation  upon  a  Christian  patriot 
arising  from  this  providence  of  Jehovah. 

"  He  commanded  our  fathers  that  they  should  make 
them  known  to  their  children ;  that  the  generation  to  come 
might  know  them,  even  the  children  which  should  be 
born ;  who  should  arise  and  declare  them  to  their  chil- 
dren." 

2S 


326  duty  of  a  pateiot. 

First:  The  character  op  a  safe  and  happy  peo- 
ple. 

They  "  set  their  hopes  in  God."  The  man  who  looks  to 
God  as  the  source  of  his  welfare,  is  lifted  above  temptation 
within  and  without.  Conscious  of  a  holy,  heart-searching 
eye  upon  him,  his  virtue  will  not  be  an  outward  semblance, 
cloaking  from  human  sight,  secret  crime,  or  selfish  purposes. 
The  opinions,  fashions,  or  rewards  of  the  world,  will  neither 
shape  his  principles  nor  modify  his  practice.  He  will  fear  to 
do  evil,  lest  he  should  offend  against  God.  He  will  do  justice 
and  love  mercy,  because  he  walks  humbly  with  God. 

His  expectations  of  eternity  will  guard  and  sustain  him  in 
honesty.  He  knows  himself  to  be  immortal  and  God  eternal ; 
that  vice,  which  no  human  scrutiny  can  detect  and  no  human 
laws  punish,  will  meet  with  a  terrible  vengeance,  while  good 
acts  and  good  purposes  will  be  rewarded  openly  by  Him,  who 
seeth  in  secret,  at  the  judgment  day.  The  pains  of  virtue 
and  the  pleasures  of  vice,  being  alike  transitory,  are  of  little 
account  in  his  estimation,  who  sets  his  "  hope  in  God,"  his 
Saviour,  and  his  Judge.  He  relies  upon  God,  because  He  is 
merciful,  and  knows  that  he  is  safe,  because  God  is  Almighty. 

Were  our  nation  composed  of  such  believers,  how  untroubled 
would  be  our  peace !  how  entire  our  mutual  confidence  !  how 
free  our  affairs  from  intrigue,  corruption,  and  wrong !  The 
key  would  never  be  turned  in  the  lock,  the  gibbet  seen  no 
more,  and  the  prison  door  stand  open.  No  man  would  fear, 
but  every  man  would  love  his  neighbor,  and  the  true  interests 
of  all  be  acknowledged  by  each  as  his  own. 

They  "  forget  not  the  works  of  God."    When  God  is  the 


DUTY    OF    A    PATRIOT.  327 

treasury  of  a  man's  hopes,  he  loves  to  trace  the  workings  of 
God's  wisdom  and  power,  that  he  may  know  the  sources  upon 
which  he  can  di'aw.  He  considers  creation,  and  in  its  mi- 
nuteness as  well  as  its  vastness,  he  reads  certain  proof  of  the 
same  Power,  which  made,  ruling  so  perfectly,  that  nothing  is 
overlooked,  and  so  absolutely,  that  nothing  is  beyond  his  pre- 
siding will.  He  considers  redemption,  that  God  so  loved  the 
world  as  to  give  his  only  begotten  Son  as  the  deliverer  of  all 
who  believe  upon  his  name,  and  that  all  power  is  in  the  hands 
of  our  Elder  Brother,  the  incarnate  God.  Therefore  is  he 
sure,  that  God  rules  in  mercy  as  well  as  justice,  that  he  will 
listen  to  the  pi'ayer  of  his  people,  and  that,  however  mysteri- 
ous his  methods,  all  things  are  working  together  by  the  Holy 
Spirit  for  the  universal  triumph  of  truth,  and  righteousness, 
and  peace. 

With  such  convictions,  how  cheering  to  him  must  be  the 
study  of  Providence !  "With  what  confidence,  remembering 
the  faithfulness  of  God  in  the  past,  will  he  confide  in  him 
amidst  the  difiiculties  of  the  present,  and  for  the  developments 
of  the  future !  and  how  steadfastly  reject  for  himself  and  for 
his  country,  any  policy  which  crosses  the  unchangeable  laws 
of  God,  the  ever-living  Lord  ! 

How  strong  would  this  nation  be  in  hope  and  virtue,  did 
our  people  thus  remember  the  works  of  God  !  for  never,  since 
the  world  began,  has  the  providence  of  God  been  more  re- 
markable, kind,  and  instructive,  than  towards  us.  Jehovah 
did  not  lead  Israel  forth  from  Egypt  to  the  conquest  of  Ca- 
naan with  a  more  mighty  hand  or  manifest  care,  than  has 
been  seen  in  our  history  since  the  first  prayer  of  the  pilgrim 


DUTY   OF   A  PATRIOT. 

from  the  tyranny  of  the  old  world  to  this  better  country,  rose 
through  its  virgin  forests,  until  our  present  day  of  unexampled 
prosperity. 

They  "  keep  his  commandments."  The  believer's  obedi- 
ence to  the  directions  of  God  is  the  necessary  result  of  such 
trust  and  study.  Gratitude  will  make  him  loyal  to  a  sovereign 
so  kind  and  faithful :  a  sense  of  his  own  weakness  and  short- 
sightedness will  incline  him  to  follow  landmarks  so  certain, 
and  the  approbation  of  an  honest  conscience  reward  and  en- 
courage him  to  persevere. 

"  Happy  is  the  people  that  are  in  such  a  case !  Yea,  happy 
is  that  people  whose  God  is  the  Lord ! " 

Secondly:   The  means  which  God  has  appointed 

FOR  cultivating  SUCH  A  CHARACTER. 

"  He  established  a  testimony  in  Jacob,  and  appointed  a  law 
in  Israel ;"  or,  as  an  admirable  critic  translates  it,  "  He  estab- 
lished an  oracle  in  Jacob,  and  deposited  a  revelation  with 
Israel." 

The  Psalmist,  doubtless,  here  refers  not  only  to  the  law 
given  on  the  Mount,  in  which  God  defined  human  duties  and 
prescribed  religious  worship,  but  to  all  the  communications 
which  he  had  made  or  might  yet  make  to  man. 

The  value  of  the  word  of  God  is  seen  in  the  fact,  that  it  is 
the  word  of  God.  What  almighty  mercy  and  wisdom  saw  fit 
to  reveal,  must  be  of  the  last  importance.  We  are  sure  of 
nothing,  but  that  which  God  has  made  known.  Never  could 
we  have  discovered  his  will  concerning  us,  or  known  how  to 
walk  in  safety,  had  He  not  said,  "  This  is  the  way."  Never 
could  we  have  been  assured  of  a  Providence  over  us,  or  looked 


DUTY   OF  A   PATKIOT.  329 

within  the  tremendous  realities  of  eternity,  had  not  he  mani- 
fested himself  by  his  own  declarations,  and  brought  immor- 
tality to  light  by  Jesus  Christ,  the  man  whom  he  has  ordained 
as  Saviour  and  Judge.  Without  the  word  of  God,  we  should 
be  without  God,  ignorant,  hopeless,  lost  in  perplexity,  the  sport 
of  conjecture,  of  passion,  appetite,  and  dread.  Truth  would 
have  no  definition,  oaths  no  confirmation,  laws  no  sanction, 
and  the  grave  no  promise ;  the  past  would  teach  us  nothing 
but  our  ruin,  and  the  future  would  be  black  with  despair. 
When  we  have  that  Word,  how  glorious  is  the  reverse  to  the 
pious  believer  !  We  stand  by  the  side  of  God  when  he  laid 
the  foundation  of  the  earth,  and  we  look  beyond  the  catastrophe 
of  created  things  to  the  fixed  results  of  justice  and  love.  We 
trace  back  our  lineage  to  a  brotherhood  with  every  human 
soul ;  and  we  learn  the  will  of  our  common  Father  concerning 
the  relations  which  bind  us  to  him  and  his  family  on  earth. 
We  see  the  path  of  righteousness  marked  for  our  feet,  and 
One  walking  by  our  side  "  whose  form  is  like  to  that  of  the 
Son  of  God,"  sustaining  our  weakness  and  assuring  our  faith- 
ful obedience  of  eternal  reward,  after  the  shadows  and  the 
labors  of  time  shall  have  passed  away  and  ceased  forever. 
Nay,  in  the  rest  of  the  Sabbath,  the  worship  of  the  sanctua- 
ry, the  communion  of  saints,  and  the  witnessing  sacraments, 
we  have  the  foretaste,  sign  and  confirmation  of  an  eternal 
rest,  love  and  satisfaction  in  the  house  of  God,  eternal  and 
undefiled. 

Need  I  ask  you  to  consider  the  blessedness,  here  and  here- 
after, of  a  nation  who  know  and  obey  that  word,  and  who 
cultivate  and  delight  in  that  worship !     Where  is  the  suicidal, 
28* 


^30  DUTY   OF  A  PATRIOT. 

traitor  hand,  that  would  dare  pluck  this  comer-stone  from  the 
foundation  of  our  hopes,  and,  extinguishing  the  light  which 
heaven  has  kindled,  give  our  country  back  to  the  gloom,  the 
licentiousness  and  cruelties  of  those  nations  which  have  for- 
gotten God! 

Thirdly  :  The  obligations  upon  the  Christian  pa- 
triot ARISING  FROM  THIS  PROVIDENCE  OF  GOD. 

"  He  commanded  our  fathers  to  make  them  known  to  their 
children ;  that  the  generation  to  come  might  know  them,  even 
the  children  which  should  be  born,  who  should  arise  and  de- 
clare them  unto  their  children." 

The  first  duty  laid  upon  us  is,  to  study  and  practise  the 
word  of  God  ourselves.  It  is  by  the  light  of  Christian  ex- 
ample, that  the  saving  power  of  the  Gospel  is  made  manifest 
to  the  world.  The  believer  of  the  word  of  God,  therefore, 
owes  a  profession  and  practice  of  Christianity  not  only  to  God, 
to  himself,  and  the  church,  but  to  his  country,  because  its 
welfare  can  be  secured  only  by  religion. 

Therefore,  should  we,  to  the  utmost  of  our  means,  give  the 
advantage  of  the  same  religion  to  those  who  neglect,  or  can- 
not, of  themselves,  obtain  the  means  of  grace,  especially  in 
the  new  settlements  of  that  immense  valley,  the  power  of 
which  already  overbalances  the  older  States.  Wherever  a 
fellow  citizen  is  without  the  knowledge  of  God,  there  is  an 
element  of  danger  minghng  with  the  aggregate  of  the  national 
will.  We  can  never  control  crime,  nor  refute  error,  but  by 
truth ;  and  in  withholding  the  truth  of  God,  we  share  in  the 
guilt  all  the  mischief  that  may  be  done  by  those,  to  whom  we 
might  teach  the  right,  but  do  not. 


DUTY   OF  A  PATRIOT.  331 

But,  especially,  are  we  to  strive  that  the  Bible  should  be 
in  the  hands,  and,  by  the  blessing  of  God  upon  our  labors,  in 
the  hearts  of  the  rising  generation.  Upon  their  shoulders  the 
burthens  of  society,  our  country,  and  the  cause  of  God,  are 
soon  to  rest.  From  them  their  children  are  to  learn  good  or 
evil.  Neglect  a  child,  and  you  have  neglected  the  man,  the 
woman,  the  father,  the  mother,  generations  yet  unborn.  The 
truth  of  God  in  our  hands  belongs  to  them,  as  much  as  to 
ourselves.  It  is  deposited  with  us  for  their  benefit.  By 
omitting  to  give  it,  we  rob  them  of  God's  best  gift,  and  our 
land,  in  future  years,  of  its  best  defence  and  glory.  The 
means  of  education,  so  far  as  the  arts  of  reading  and  writing 
go,  are  not  enough.  Educate  with  all  your  energies.  Do 
nothing  that  may  by  any  possibility  hinder,  and  every  thing 
to  enlarge  such  instruction ;  but  let  us  ever  be  ready  to  set 
the  Bible  before  the  opened  eye  and  the  craving  mind.  Better 
that  a  child  should  learn  to  read  without  the  Bible,  than  know 
not  how  to  read  the  Bible.  Thank  God !  Christians  need  not 
contend  for  debatable  ground  in  this  matter.  With  our  Bible 
and  Tract,  and  Sunday  School  Societies,  if  we  be  only  faithful 
in  supporting  them,  we  are  more  than  a  match,  by  God's  help, 
for  all  the  infidelity  and  superstition  among  us.  We  lose  time 
and  waste  our  strength,  by  petty  squabblings  with  evil  on  its 
own  dunghill.  Let  us  rather  devote  all  our  power  and  zeal 
to  those  ready  and  open  methods  of  disseminating  truth,  which 
no  force  in  this  land  can  prevent  our  using.  When  the  true 
church  of  God  consecrates  the  talents  she  has  from  Him,  to 
the  spread  of  the  Gospel  through  our  country,  every  wall,  that 
the  enmity  or  idolatry  of  men  can  buUd  against  it,  shall  fall 


S32  DUTY  OF  A  PATRIOT. 

like  those  of  Jericho  at  the  trumpeting  of  the  Levites ;  when 
she  walks  forth,  the  light  of  her  presence  shall  dissipate  every 
shadow,  and  "terrible  as  an  army  with  banners,"  her  peaceful 
triumphs  will  crown  our  whole  people  with  the  glory  of  the 
Lord,  a  joy  and  a  defence. 

Blessed  be  God,  there  are  those  who  have  felt  the  necessity 
of  these  religious  efforts  for  the  good  of  our  country,  and  the 
immortal  well-being  of  our  countrymen !  They  are,  indeed, 
but  too  few,  and  their  zeal  has  not  always  been  equal  to  their 
opportunities  and  responsibility.  Yet  in  them,  their  examples 
of  Christian  conduct,  their  testimony  to  the  power  of  religion, 
and  their  benevolent  labors  for  the  illumination  of  the  igno- 
rant, we  see  the  providence  of  God  blessing  our  nation  with 
moral  life,  and  confirming  our  government,  founded  upon  the 
will  of  the  people,  by  the  only  suflScient  buttresses,  knowledge, 
virtue,  and  the  fear  of  God.  The  faithful  Christian  is  the 
only  faithful  patriot,  and  he  is  not  a  faithful  Christian  who 
serves  not  his  country  in  the  name  of  Christ,  and  in  the  spirit 
of  his  Gospel. 

These  thoughts,  as  you  know,  have  been  suggested  by  the 
recent  anniversary  of  our  national  independence,  a  day  which 
should  be  dear  and  sacred  to  us  all,  though  often  miserably 
polluted  by  intemperance,  and  profaned  by  party  assemblages. 
Surely,  we  might  devote  one  day  of  the  year  to  the  charities 
of  patriotic  brotherhood,  and  lose  all  minor  distinctions  in  our 
common  citizenship ;  nor  should  we  forget  before  the  altar  of 
our  fathers'  God,  the  Author  of  all  mercies,  his  mighty  doings 
for  us  in  the  past ;  the  good,  the  great,  the  wise,  the  valiant, 
whom  he  has  raised  up  to  serve,  guide,  and  defend  us ;  and 


DUTY  OF  A  PATRIOT.  333 

the  blessing  which  he  has  caused  to  rest  upon  their  counsels, 
their  arms,  their  zeal,  and  their  sacrifices.  Such  recollections 
are  due  to  Him,  to  our  country,  and  to  humanity.  Children 
should  hear  the  story,  and  the  best  genius  contribute  to  its 
illustration.  Fresh  laurels  should  be  plucked  and  wreathed 
upon  the  graves  of  the  beloved  for  their  country's  sake,  and 
eloquence  pay  its  richest  tribute  to  their  heaven-sent  worth, 
that  the  living  may  hear  and  follow  their  example. 

While  I  thus  speak,  the  spell  of  a  great  name  comes  upon 
our  hearts,  compelling  us  to  utter  their  thoughts  and  emotions. 
When  the  sun  of  that  morning  rose,  it  gilded  the  fresh  tomb 
of  one  whose  ear,  for  the  first  time  since  the  4th  of  July,  1776, 
failed  to  vibrate  with  the  thunderings  of  his  country's  birth- 
day joy;  and  a  voice,  for  the  first  time,  answered  not  its 
cheers,  which,  since  its  boyish  shout  was  heard  through  the 
revolutionary  strife,  had  never  been  wanting  in  the  annual 
conclamation.  The  iron  will,  whose  upright  strength  never 
quivered  amidst  the  lightning  storms  that  crashed  around  it 
in  battle  or  controversy ;  the  adamantine  judgment,  against 
which  adverse  opinions  dashed  themselves  to  break  into  scat- 
tered foam ;  the  far-reaching  faith,  that  flashed  light  upon 
dangers  hidden  from  the  prudence  of  all  beside ;  the  earnest 
affection,  that  yearned  in  a  child's  simplicity,  the  purpose  of  a 
sage,  a  parent's  tenderness,  and  the  humble  fidelity  of  a  sworn 
servant,  over  the  people  who  gave  it  rule  and  elevation,  have 
ceased  from  among  us :  Andrew  Jackson  is  with  God.  He, 
who  confessed  no  authority  on  earth  but  the  welfare  of  his 
country  and  his  own  convictions  of  right ;  who  never  turned 
to  rest  while  a  duty  remained  to  be  done,  and  who  never 


334  DUTY   OF  A  PATRIOT. 

asked  the  support  of  any  human  arm  in  his  hour  of  utmost 
difl&culty;  bowed  his  head  meekly  to  the  command  of  the 
Highest,  and  walked  calmly  down  into  the  grave,  leaning 
upon  the  strength  of  Jesus  ;  paused  on  the  threshold  of  im- 
mortality to  forgive  his  enemies,  to  pray  for  our  liberties,  to 
bless  his  weeping  household,  and  to  leave  the  testimony  of 
his  trust  in  the  Gospel  of  the  Crucified ;  and  then,  at  the  fall 
of  a  Sabbath  evening,  entered  the  rest  which  is  eternal.  His 
last  enemy  to  be  destroyed  was  death.  Thanks  be  to  God, 
who  gave  him  the  victory  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ ! 

To  say  that  he  had  faults,  is  to  say  that  he  was  human  ;  the 
errors  of  a  mind  so  energetic,  in  a  career  so  eventful,  must 
have  been  striking ;  nor  could  a  character  be  subjected  to 
criticism  more  merciless,  than  he  provoked  by  a  policy 
original  and  unhesitating,  at  open  war  with  long  established 
usages,  and  dogmas  that  had  grown  into  unquestioned  axioms. 
Bereft  early  of  parental  guidance  and  restraint,  educated  in  the 
Camp  and  the  forest  bivouac,  and  forced  to  push  his  own  for- 
tunes through  the  rough  trials  of  a  border  life,  we  can  scarce- 
ly wonder  that,  until  age  had  schooled  his  spirit  and  tempered 
his  blood,  he  was  impetuous,  sensitive  to  insult,  and  prone  to 
use  the  strong  hand.  "Warm  in  his  attachments,  he  was  slow 
to  discover  frailty  in  those  he  loved,  or  to  accord  confidence 
where  once  he  had  doubted.  Grasping,  by  his  untutored  ge- 
nius, conclusions  which  other  men  reach  by  philosophical  de- 
tail, he  made,  while  sure  of  just  ends,  some  mistakes  in  his 
methods,  for  the  time  disastrous.  Called  to  act  at  a  crisis, 
when  the  good  and  evil  in  our  national  growth  had  become 
vigorous  enough  for  conflict,  and  wealth  and  labor,  like  the 


DUTY   OF   A   PATBIOT.  335 

twins  of  Rebecca,  were  struggling  for  the  right  of  the  elder 
born,  his  decisions  on  great  but  sudden  emergencies,  were  de- 
nounced by  that  after  criticism,  which  can  look  back  to  con- 
demn, but  is  blind  to  lead.  Compelled  to  resolve  stupendous, 
imprecedented  questions  of  government  and  poUtical  economy, 
he  roused  the  hostility  of  opposite  schools  in  those  difficult 
sciences.  Never  shrinking  from  any  responsibility,  personal 
or  official,  he  sternly  fulfilled  his  interpretations  of  duty  as  a 
coordinate  branch  of  the  national  legislature,  leaving  his  course 
to  the  verdict  of  his  constituents :  nor  did  he  hesitate  to  avail 
himself  of  all  the  means  he  could  extract  from  the  letter  of  the 
constitution,  to  achieve,  what  he  thought  was  the  intent  of  its 
spirit.  His  was  a  stern,  prompt,  and  energetic  surgery,  and, 
though  the  body  politic  writhed  under  the  operation,  none  can 
tell,  though  some  may  conjecture,  the  more  fatal  consequences 
his  severity  averted.  If  he  were  wrong,  public  opinion  has 
since  adopted  the  chief  of  his  heresies,  and  there  is  no  hand 
strong  enough  or  daring  enough  to  lay  one  stone  upon  another 
of  that,  which  he  threw  down  into  ruins.  But  in  all  this,  his 
heart  was  with  the  people,  his  faith  firm  in  the  sufficiency  of 
free  principles,  and  regardless  alike  of  deprecating  friends  and 
denouncing  opponents,  he  held  on  throughout  to  one  only  pur- 
pose, the  permanent  good  of  the  whole,  unchecked  by  particu- 
lar privileges,  and  unfettered  by  artificial  restrictions.  To 
use  his  own  lofty  language,  "  In  vain  did  he  bear  upon  his 
person  enduring  memorials  of  that  contest  in  which  American 
liberty  was  purchased ;  ...  in  vain  did  he  since  peril  proper- 
ty, fame  and  life,  in  defence  of  the  rights  and  privileges  so 
deai'ly  bought,  if  any  doubts  can  be  entertained  of  the  purity 


336  DUTY    or  A  PATRIOT. 

of  his  purposes  and  motives.  .  .  .  Nor  could  he  have  found  an 
inducement  to  commence  a  career  of  ambition,  when  gray  hairs 
and  a  decaying  frame,  instead  of  inviting  to  toil  and  b  attle, 
called  him  to  contemplate  other  worlds,  where  conquerors 
cease  to  be  honored,  and  usurpers  expiate  their  crimes." 

But,  though  there  are  passages  in  his  life,  about  which  the 
most  honest  have  held,  and  may  yet  hold,  contrary  opinions, 
there  are  services  of  his  demanding  the  gratitude  of  all,  and 
virtues  all  must  delight  to  honor.  Can  we  forget  that  victory, 
in  which  his  ready  strategy  and  consummate  skill  turned  back, 
by  the  valor  of  scarcely  disciplined  men,  the  superior  numbers 
and  veteran  determination  of  a  foreign  foe  bent  upon  spoil  and 
dishonor  of  a  rich  and  populous  territory  ?  or  the  entire  suc- 
cess, with  which  he  delivered  from  the  scalping-knife  and  tor- 
ture of  wily  and  ferocious  savages,  the  Florida  settlements,  an 
achievement,  which  in  subsequent  trials  far  less  arduous,  no 
other  leader  has  been  able  to  imitate  ?  Or  the  triumph  of 
simple  firmness  over  diplomatic,  procrastinating  subtleties, 
when,  planting  his  foot  upon  what  was  clearly  right,  in  a  de- 
termination to  suffer  nothing  that  was  clearly  wrong,  he  swung 
round  a  mighty  European  empire  to  pay  its  long  withheld  in- 
demnity for  wrongs  done  to  American  commerce  ?  And  in 
that  darkest  hour  of  our  country's  history,  when  a  narrow 
sectionalism  counterfeited  the  color  of  patriotic  zeal,  and  dis- 
cord shook  her  Gorgon  locks,  and  men  shuddered  as  they 
saw,  yawning  wide  in  the  midst  of  our  confederacy,  a  gulf, 
which  threatened  to  demand  the  devotion  of  many  a  life  before 
it  would  close  again,  how  sublimely  did  he  proclaim  over  the 
land  that  doctrine  sacred  as  the  name  of  "Washington,  The 


DUTY   OF   A   PATRIOT.  337 

Union  must  he  preserved!  and  the  storm  died  away  with  impo- 
tent mutterings.  Nor  is  his  glory  in  this  the  less,  that  he 
shared  it  with  another,  and  that  other,  one  whose  name  the 
applauses  of  his  countrymen  have  taught  the  mountains  and 
the  valleys  to  echo  down  for  far  generations,  as  the  gallant 
the  frank,  the  brilliant  statesman,  to  whose  fame  the  highest 
office  could  add  no  decoration,  nor  disappointment  rob  of  just 
claims  to  the  people's  love.  It  was  a  lofty  spectacle,  full  of 
rebuke  to  party  jealousy  and  of  instruction  to  their  countrymen,, 
when  Henry  Clay  offered  the  compromise  of  his  darling  theory, 
and  Andrew  Jackson  endorsed  the  new  bond  that  made  the 
Union  again,  and,  as  we  trust,  indissolubly,  firm. 

Remarkable  as  the  contrast  is,  the  indomitable  old  man  had 
traits  of  temper  tender,  simple,  and  touching.  With  what 
faithful  affection  he  honored  her  while  living,  whose  dear  dust 
made  the  hope  of  his  last  resting-place  more  sweet,  that  he 
might  sleep  again  at  her  side !  And,  if  his  heart  seemed 
sometimes  steeled  against  the  weakness  of  mercy,  when  crime 
was  to  be  punished,  or  mutiny  controlled,  or  danger  annihilated  j 
he  could  also  stoop  in  his  career  of  bloody  conquest,  to  take  a 
wailing,  new-made  orphan  to  his  pitying  heart ;  with  the  same 
hand,  that  had  just  struck  down  invading  foes,  he  steadied  the 
judgment-seat  shaken  with  the  ti'emors  of  him  who  sat  upon  it, 
to  pronounce  sentence  against  him  for  law  violated  from  mar- 
tial necessity ;  and  at  the  height  of  authority,  the  poor  found 
him  a  brother  and  a  friend. 

But,  O  how  surpassingly  beautiful  was  his  closing  scene, 
when,  as  the  glories  of  his  earthly  honor  were  fading  in  the 
brightness  of  his  eternal  anticipations,  and  his  head  humbly 

29 


338  DUTY   OF   A   PATRIOT. 

rested  upon  the  bosom  of  Him  who  was  crucified  for  our  sins, 
his  latest  breath  departed  with  praises  of  that  religion  which 
had  become  his  only  boast,  and  earnest  counsel  that  all  who 
loved  him  would  obtain  the  like  faith,  and  meet  him  in  heaven  ! 
There  was  no  doubt  in  his  death  ;  he  had  prepared  to  meet 
his  God  ;  and  when  his  giant  heart  fainted,  and  his  iron  frame 
failed,  God  was  the  strength  of  his  heart,  and  his  portion  for- 
ever. Little  would  all  his  achievements  have  won  for  him, 
had  he  gained  the  whole  world  yet  lost  his  soul ;  but  now  his 
fame  wiU  survive  until  time  shall  be  no  more,  and  his  spirit  is 
immortal  among  the  redeemed.  The  angels  bore  him  from 
us,  no  longer  the  hero,  the  statesman,  the  guide  of  millions, 
and  the  master  mind  of  his  country ;  but  a  sinner  saved  by 
grace  to  the  feet  of  the  Lamb  that  was  slain,  a  little  child  of 
God  to  the  bosom  of  his  Father.  My  hearers,  have  you  been 
his  friends  ?  Obey  his  parting  counsel,  and  by  faith  in  Jesus, 
follow  him  to  heaven,  whom  you  have  delighted  to  follow  on 
earth.  Have  you  been  in  opposition  to  his  life  ?  Refuse  not 
the  profit  of  his  death,  but  find  in  that  blood,  which  cleansed 
him  from  all  his  sins,  atonement  for  your  own.  O  that  his 
last  testimony  had  the  same  power  over  men's  souls,  as  his 
cheer  in  battle,  and  his  proclamations  of  political  doctrine ! 
Then  would  he  shine  bright  among  the  brightest  in  the  con- 
stellation of  those,  who  turn  many  to  righteousness. 

My  brethren,  I  have  spoken  much  longer  than  I  meant  to 
have  done,  but  you  would  not  have  Avithheld  from  me  the 
privilege.  If  I  have  dwelt  upon  the  best  traits  in  the  notable 
character  of  one,  who  has  not  been  suffered  to  escape  the 
earnest  crimination  of  many,  it  has  been  because  he  is  dead. 


DUTY    OF   A   PATKIOT.  339 

You,  who  listened  to  me  with  so  much  candor,  when  I  paid, 
four  years  since,  a  humble  tribute  to  the  merits  of  him  who 
reached  the  height  of  authority  to  sink  into  a  grave  watered 
by  a  nation's  tears,  will  not  condemn  my  utterance  of  similar 
emotions  now.  The  jackal  hate,  that  howls  over  the  lifeless 
body,  is  far  removed  from  your  Christian  charity  and  generous 
judgment. 

Vile  is  the  vengeance  on  the  ashes  cold, 
And  envy  base  to  bark  at  sleeping  mould. 

Let  us  rather  pray  as  Christians,  that  the  memory  of  good 
deeds  may  live,  and  the  example  of  a  Christian's  death  be 
sanctified.  Let  us,  as  Christian  patriots,  take  new  courage  in 
setting  forth,  by  word  and  practice,  the  paramount  virtue  of 
the  religion  we  profess,  to  save  our  country,  as  it  saves  the 
soul ;  and,  while  we  mourn  the  conflicts  of  evil  passion,  not 
forget  the  actual  good,  which,  by  the  Divine  favor,  is  working 
out  health  from  the  mysterious  fermentation. 

There  is,  notwithstanding  occasional  agitation,  a  calm,  good 
sense  among  our  people,  sufficient  to  recover  and  maintain 
the  equilibrium.  It  is  not  seen  blustering  ai'ound  the  polls ; 
it  is  not  heard  vociferating  and  applauding  in  party  meetings  ; 
nor,  unhappily,  does  it  often  appear  on  the  arena,  where 
misnomered  statesmen  struggle  rather  for  personal  advance- 
ment than  their  country's  good ;  but  it  lives  with  those,  who, 
from  honest  toil,  are  too  independent  to  be  bought,  or,  from 
honest  competence,  too  content  to  desire  the  doubtful  distinc- 
tions of  popular  favor.  It  is  nurtured  by  the  lessons  of  holy 
religion.     It  is  breathed  in  the  prayer  of  God's  true  wor- 


340  DUTY   OF   A   PATRIOT. 

shippers.  It  deliberates  around  the  domestic  hearth,  where 
the  father  thinks  of  the  posterity  who  are  to  live  after  him  ; 
in  the  philosophic  retirement  of  the  man  of  letters ;  in  the 
workshop  where  the  freeman  feels  proud  of  his  sweat ;  and  in 
the  cultured  field,  from  which  the  farmer  knows  that  his  bread 
is  sure  by  the  bounty  of  heaven.  It  is  felt  in  the  practice  of 
common  duties,  the  example  of  daily  virtues,  and  the  results 
of  observant  experience.  It  is  like  oil  on  the  waves  of  noisy 
strife.  The  man  in  power  trembles  as  he  hears  its  stiU  small 
voice ;  the  secret  conspirator  finds  its  clear  eye  upon  him,  and 
quails  beneath  the  searching  scrutiny ;  and,  like  the  angel  of 
Israel,  it  meets  the  demagogue  on  his  way  to  curse  the  land 
which  God  has  blessed,  and,  if  he  be  not  turned  back,  it  alarms 
and  forewarns  the  beast  on  which  he  rides. 

It  may  be  said,  that  the  party  of  the  honest  and  intelligent 
is  small,  far  smaller  than,  with  my  respect  for  my  country,  I 
believe  it  to  be ;  but,  if  it  be,  it  has  still  the  controlling  voice 
from  the  divisions  of  the  rest.  Each  disastrous  experiment 
teaches  them  new  prudence,  each  well-sustained  trial  new 
courage.  They  have  not  looked  for  immediate  perfection, 
and,  therefore,  are  willing  yet  to  learn.  They  are  the  men 
who  hold  the  country  together,  and  their  influence  is  the  salt 
which  saves  the  mass  from  utter  corruption.  I  look  upward 
above  the  dust  which  is  raised  by  scuffling  partisans,  to  the 
throne  of  our  fathers'  God ;  I  look  backward  on  all  the  threat- 
ening events  through  which  he  has  brought  us ;  and  I  can 
commit  my  country  to  the  care  of  Him  who  "  maketh  even 
the  wrath  of  man  to  praise  him,"  and  believe  that  it  is  safe. 
Under  providence,  I  rely  with  an  unshaken  faith  on  the  in- 


DUTY    OF   A   PATRIOT.  341 

telligent  will  of  the  American  people.  If  my  faith  be  a  de- 
lusion, may  it  go  with  me  to  my  grave.  When  its  warrant 
proves  false,  I  could  pray  God,  if  it  be  his  will,  to  let  me  die  ; 
for  the  brightest  hope  that  ever  dawned  on  political  freedom 
shall  have  been  lost  in  darkness,  the  fairest  column  ever  reared 
by  the  hands  of  men  cast  down,  and  the  beacon  light  of  the 
world  gone  out. 

My  hearers,  we  must  soon  appear  before  God  to  answer  for 
all  our  conduct  here.  Then,  what  will  avail  all  our  busy, 
anxious,  most  successful  pursuit  of  this  world,  if,  through 
neglect  of  a  timely  faith  and  repentance,  we  are  lost  forever  ? 
Let  me  entreat  you,  therefore,  to  seek  first  the  kingdom  of 
God  and  his  righteousness,  that  the  Holy  Spirit  may  be  your 
guide,  Christ  your  intercessor,  and  the  Father  receive  you 
among  the  children  of  his  love.  Until  we  have  obtained  this 
grace  for  ourselves,  we  shall  seek  in  vain  to  do  any  real  good  ; 
there  is  no  promise  of  an  answer  to  our  prayers,  or  of  a  bless- 
ing upon  our  zeal.  We  cannot  be  faithful  to  others,  while  we 
remain  unfaithful  to  God  and  our  own  souls.  May  the  voice 
of  Providence,  confirming  the  testimony  of  the  Scriptures, 
prevail  with  us  all  to  prepare  for  eternity,  that,  in  our  wise 
preparation,  we  may  secure  our  own  best  happiness,  by  ren- 
dering the  best  service  to  God,  our  country,  and  our  race ! 
Amen. 


29* 


A   PLEA  FOR   STUDY. 


AN    ORATION 


BEFOBE  THB 


LITERAEY   SOCIETIES   OF   YALE   COLLEGE, 


AUGUST  19,  1845. 


(published  bt  bequest.) 


ORATION. 


Gentlemen, 

Rising,  at  your  flattering  request,  to  speak  before  such  an 
assemblage,  as  The  Literary  Societies  of  Yale  College, 
your  orator  adopts,  with  all  their  force,  the  earnest  words  of 
Ringelbergius :  —  "Happy  young  men,  trained  from  very 
childhood,  under  the  best  masters,  in  various  learning,  to  whom 
belong  the  blooming  cheek,  the  pliant  limb,  a  hope  of  many 
years,  and  an  unworn  energy,  would  that  I  could  share  the 
freshness  of  your  morning,  and  seek,  with  a  vigor  like  yours, 
those  heights  of  knowledge,  which  now,  from  early  neglect, 
are  beyond  my  reach !  Vain  are  my  regrets.  Let  me  solace 
them  by  exhorting  you  to  persevere  in  the  difficult,  but  hon- 
orable labors  of  a  studious  life,  labors  whose  success  is  certain, 
as  their  rewards  are  glorious ! "  * 

Our  discourse  will,  therefore,  be  upon 

STUDY ; 

a  theme  beyond  his  powers,  whose  distinguished  office  it  is  to 
address  you ;  yet,  inspiring  courage  from  this  classical  atmos- 

*  I.  Fortii  Ringelbergii  Lib.  De  Batione  Studii. 


346  A   PLEA   FOE   STUDY. 

phere,  he  feels  sure,  of  a  courteous  sympathy  with  his  well- 
meant  efforts.  Under  the  shadow  of  your  venerable  Univer- 
sity, founded  by  ancient  i)iety  and  edified  by  the  good  of  many 
generations,  crowded  by  aspirants  to  scholarship  from  every 
part  of  our  wide  confederacy,  and  illustrated  by  the  lives  of 
professors  as  eminent  for  every  virtue  as  they  are  excellent 
in  every  science,  the  most  humble  lover  of  Christian  learn- 
ing may  bring  his  tribute  to  a  cause,  identified  with  the  name 
of  Yale. 

But  do  they,  who  have  been  blessed  by  the  liberal  nurture 
of  your  ALMA  3LA.TER,  need  incitement  to  pursue  study  so  de- 
lightfully begun  ?  Is  not  the  day,  on  which  they  receive  her 
parting  blessing,  rightly  named  a  Commencement,  because 
then,  obeying  her  last  affectionate  words,  they  commence, 
haculum  in  manu,  those  higher  walks  of  truth,  for  whose  steep 
ascents  she  has  carefully  disciplined  their  growing  faculties  ? 
Can  we  think  it  possible,  that  any,  who  have  here  known  the 
pleasures  of  intellect,  will  ever  be  seduced  by  the  earthward 
and  imbruting  temptations  of  a  vulgar  world  ? 

These  doubts  have  a  melancholy  answer  from  the  past;  for 
by  far  the  greatest  part  of  those,  whose  advantages  should  have 
made  them  lights  to  mankind,  shining  brighter  and  brighter, 
are  lost  in  disgraceful  obscurity,  become  slaves  of  the  mine, 
mere  delvers  after  gain,  or  drag  their  way  through  life  mortally 
tainted  with  sloth,  the  leprosy  of  soul. 

A  college  course  may  be  compared  to  the  fabled  regions 
below.  Many  feel  themselves  chained  down  by  iron  rules,  the 
vulture  impatience  gnawing  at  their  liver;  or  are  whirled 
round,  like  Ixion,  by  a  routine  of  unwilling  exercises;  or  pour 


A   PLEA.   FOR    STUDY.  347 

lessons  into  memories,  leaky  as  the  sieves  of  the  Danaides;  or 
strive  vainly  to  taste  enjoyments,  which  tantalize  the  appetite 
of  their  feeble  minds ;  or,  most  laboriously, 

"  With  many  a  weary  step  and  many  a  groan," 

heave  up  the  mass  of  their  accumulating  tasks  until  they  reach 
a  bachelor's  degree,  to  let  it  run  down  again,  and  to  run 
down  after  it,  congratulating  themselves  over  Sisyphus,  that 
they  may  stay  at  the  bottom.  A  fortunate  few  find  here  an 
Elysium,  where  they  hold  high  converse  with  the  mighty 
dead,  and  emerge,  like  ^neas,  wise  from  their  counsels,  to 
lay  the  foundation  of  an  influence  more  enduring  than  "eter- 
nal Rome."  Such  spirits,  at  least,  will  listen  to  an  advocate 
of  Study. 

Study,  in  its  wide  meaning,  signifies,  Zeal  in  acquiring 
knowledge  of  any  kind,  by  any  method ;  but,  leaving  those, 
more  conversant  with  them,  to  recommend  otPier  sciences,  our 
plea  is  for  Letters,  especially,  Letters  which  reveal  the  expe- 
rience, the  taste,  and  the  mind  of  antiquity. 

Study  abounds  in  religious  uses.  It  is  a  scruple  of  a  sickly 
conscience,  that  our  immediate  duties  are  so  many,  as  to  forbid 
us  time  for  such  occupation.  The  true  end  of  life  is  prepara- 
tion for  eternity,  and  religion  ought  to  have  our  supreme  re- 
gard. But  what  is  religion  ?  Is  it  not  the  study  of  God,  of 
our  fellow  creatures  and  of  ourselves,  and  the  intelligent 
practice  of  our  duties  to  all?  God  is  our  best  Teacher,  and 
how  does  he  instruct  us  ?  He  has  not,  in  his  book,  taught  us 
only  of  Himself,  nor  confined  the  text  to  mere  statements  of 


348  A  PLEA   FOR   STUDY. 

doctrine,  bare  precepts  and  direct  promises.  The  Scriptures 
are  full  of  man's  history,  the  strange  workings  of  the  human 
heart  as  shown  by  the  conduct  of  nations  and  individuals,  the 
miserable  consequences  of  departure  from  primeval  religion, 
and  the  peaceful  results  of  righteousness.  It  is  not  presump- 
tion to  inquire  after  God,  for  "  the  knowledge  of  the  Holy  is 
understanding;"  but  he  has  taught  us,  also,  that  man  is  the 
proper  study  of  man.  Whatever  exhibits  human  nature,  shows 
us  ourselves. 

The  style  of  the  Scriptures  is  not  bare  and  meagre.  Sim- 
plicity of  narrative,  pathos  and  grandeur  of  description,  elo- 
quence, argument,  philosophy,  poetry,  imagery,  apothegm, 
maxim,  proverb,  are  all  there ;  and  each  inspired  writer  has  a 
genius,  with  its  correspondent  manner,  peculiar  to  himself. 
Study  of  the  Bible  awakens  a  taste  for  letters,  and  sanctions  by 
infallible  example,  a  cultivation  of  those  arts  which  the  scholar 
loves  for  the  delight  and  power  they  give  him. 

God  teaches  us  by  his  works.  He  has  not  formed  them 
after  the  narrow  scheme  of  a  misnomered  utilitarianism. 
There  are  the  rugged,  the  barren,  and  the  dreary ;  but  how 
far  excelling  in  number  and  extent,  are  the  graceful,  the 
changeful,  the  wonderful  and  the  bright !  How  lavish  has  he 
been  of  trees,  and  shrubs,  and  herbs,  and  flowers,  moulding 
their  anatomy  and  painting  their  leaves  with  infinite  skill ! 
Mountain  and  valley,  hill  and  dale  and  plain,  forest  and  mea- 
dow, brook  and  river  and  lake  and  sea,  combine  their  con- 
trasts to  adorn  the  fruitful  earth  for  the  dwelling  of  its  innu- 
merable tribes.  Above  us,  the  clouds,  dark,  fleecy  or  gor- 
geous, of  eyerj  shape,  sweep  over  the  face  of  heaven,  or  hang 


A   PLEA  FOR    STUDY.  Mi 

around  the  horizon,  or,  passing  away,  leave  the  blue  vault 
magnificent  with  the  garniture  of  sun  and  moon  and  planet 
and  constellation.  They  all  have  their  uses;  but  is  their 
beauty,  with  our  faculty  to  perceive  and  to  feel  it,  of  no  use? 
an  extravagance  of  the  Creator,  a  profuseness  of  bounty,  from 
which  we  must  abstain  in  a  self-denial  more  prudent  than  the 
kindness  of  God?  Let  the  cold,  dull  plodder,  who,  intent  on 
his  creeping  steps,  fears  to  look  up  and  delight  himself  with 
that  which  delights  God,  study  the  lyrics  of  David,  the  rhap- 
sodies of  holy  prophets,  and  the  illustrated  sermons  of  his 
Lord. 

The  greatest  divine  work  within  our  observation  is  man ;; 
man  is  most  wonderful  in  his  soul,  and  Letters  are  the  devel- 
opment of  the  human  soul  by  its  own  actings.  They  open  to> 
us  a  world,  a  universe,  more  vast  than  material  creation,  not 
the  less  instructive,  because  the  free  attributes  of  the  moral 
creature  are  permitted  to  modify  the  original  economy.  The 
evil  of  man  is  his  own,  his  perverted  passions,  his  calamitous 
errors  of  theory  and  practice  ;  but  the  goodness,  the  wisdom, 
and  power  of  man,  is  the  manifestation  of  God  in  his  crea- 
ture, and  thus  does  the  operation  of  evil  itself,  assist  us  to 
know  the  infallibility  of  that  Supreme  Will,  whence  no  evil 
could  ever  emanate ;  which  is  the  principal  lesson  of  Scrip- 
tures, written  by  "  holy  men  of  old  as  they  were  moved  by  the 
Holy  Ghost."  Every  fact,  discovered  in  the  aggregate  expe- 
rience of  all  former  times,  confirms  the  testimony  of  revelation 
to  the  necessity  of  that  piety,  which  God  has  pronounced  our 
highest  good. 

As  we  read  the  classic  pages  of  poet,  orator,  historian  and 
30 


350  A  PLEA   FOR    STUDY. 

philosophical  inquirer,  we  are  surprised  by  a  beauty,  sweet- 
ness and  sublimity,  far  more  exquisite  than  any  external 
things,  which  refine  and  elevate  our  spiritual  perceptions.  If 
it  be  not  denied  us  to  gather  the  perishing  flowers,  to  hear  the 
music  and  contemplate  the  scenery,  which  God  prepares  for 
our  senses,  that  we  may  derive  from  them  pleasure  and  ad- 
vantage ;  may  we  not  enjoy  with  profit  the  bloom,  the  melody, 
the  grace,  the  tenderness,  the  incomparable  grandeur  and  il- 
limitable range  of  thought,  which  distinguishes  man  from 
grosser  being,  and  admits  him  to  an  adoring  communion  with 
the  Father  of  Spirits  ? 

There  is  a  sphere  of  life  promised  to  the  Christian,  where 
matter  has  no  place,  and,  by  an  inscrutable  mystery,  the  bodies 
of  the  redeemed  are  etherealized  into  spiritual  substance ; 
where  exist  those  ideal  realities,  of  which  sensible  things  are 
but  the  fleeting  shadows ;  and  truth,  and  joy,  and  love,  and 
praise,  are  known,  and  felt,  and  uttered,  by  thought  alone, 
unseen,  intangible,  unheard,  as  the  essence  of  God  and  the 
souls  of  his  happy  children.  In  that  deep  silence  harmonies 
are  ever  rolling ;  over  those  invisible  regions  eternal  beauty 
is  outspread,  and  there,  untrammelled  by  the  impediments  of 
matter,  spirits  hold  fellowship  with  spirits,  in  an  activity  so 
pure  and  free,  that  Scripture  has  described  it  by  perfect  Rest. 

The  outward  engagements,  which  religion  demands  of  us 
here,  are,  in  their  place  and  degree,  a  discipline  preparatory 
to  heaven ;  but  we  cannot  fulfil  them  aright,  nor  is  our  educa- 
tion progressive,  except  as  we  free  our  souls  from  the  degra- 
dation of  sense,  by  uplifting  them  to  the  world  of  thought ; 
and  find  there  a  vigor  and  satisfaction,  independent  of  all  low- 


A    PLEA   FOR    STUDY.  351 

er  things.  This  is  the  work  of  Study.  When  we  bend  over 
the  volume,  a  miraculous  power  suspends  the  laws,  which  sep- 
arate us  from  the  distant  and  the  past.  The  scholar  from  far- 
off  lands  sits  at  our  side ;  the  sages  of  far  antiquity  live  again 
in  their  deathless  words ;  they  speak  a  silent  language,  whose 
tones  shall  stir  the  hearts  of  generations  long  to  come.  O 
then  it  is  that  we  feel  ourselves  to  be  immortal ;  citizens  of  an 
imperishable  universe,  and,  yielding  reason,  staggered  by  the 
vastness  of  her  destiny,  to  the  stronger  virtue  of  faith,  return 
to  walk  through  earth,  pilgrims  whose  aim  is  a  better  country, 
the  paradise  of  the  soul. 

But  some  may  ask  :  "Why  study  particularly  the  ancients, 
when  we  have  in  modern  learning  all  the  advantages  of  their 
labors,  enhanced  and  corrected  by  researches  under  the  light 
of  Christianity  ? 

The  objection  would  be  of  more  force,  if  the  moderns  had 
always  sought  to  rectify,  by  evangelical  assistance,  the  errors 
of  antiquity.  Unhappily,  however,  since  the  early  time  when 
professed  rhetoricians  and  teachers  of  philosophy  became 
fathers  and  doctors  of  the  church,  there  has  been  a  strong  ten- 
dency to  engraft  upon  the  true  and  living  vine  of  Christ's 
planting,  subtleties  and  abstractions  from  the  Grecian  and 
Egyptian  schools.  Men,  converted  to  the  new  faith  in  middle 
life,  retained  the  bent  and  methods  of  philosophizing,  acquired 
under  masters  who  knew  not  of  Jesus;  nor  could  the  mind 
of  the  world  be  turned  readily  out  of  channels,  in  which  it  had 
flowed  for  ages.  An  accidental  similarity  of  some  terms  in 
the  apostolical  writings  to  those  of  the  philosophers,  and  an 
imaginary  identity  between    some    Academic  theories   and 


352  A  PLEA   FOR   STUDY. 

certain  Christian  doctrines,  with  an  abuse  of  the  Aristotelian 
dialectics,  contributed  largely  to  the  adulteration  of  that 
wisdom  which  came  directly  from  above,  pure,  original  and 
unique-  To  this  day,  indeed  now  more  than  for  centuries, 
Plato  and  Plotinus  are  made  interpreters  of  the  sacred  epistles ; 
wild,  if  not  pi'ofane  dreams  of  the  Emanative  system,  at  utter 
variance  with  the  Bible,  which  declares  all  but  God  to  have 
been  created,  are  enthusiastically  advocated  from  the  pulpit, 
as  well  as  the  press ;  nay,  the  Stoic  scheme  of  reproduction 
after  the  fiery  close  of  a  Providential  cycle,  is  more  than 
quoted  in  supposed  illustration  of  literal  prophecy.  "We  are 
often  startled  by  the  walking  ghosts  of  long  buried  notions 
from  the  limbo  of  heathenism,  not  the  less  recognizable  by  the 
scholar,  because  wearing  a  Geneva  cloak,  an  Oxford  surplice, 
or  a  cross-embroidered  vestment.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
astute  skeptic,  encouraged  by  this  actual,  though  unintention- 
al, vailing  of  Divine  teaching  to  the  competency  of  unaided 
reason,  has,  by  a  pernicious  skill,  cited  the  past  to  prove  the 
unnecessariness  of  Revelation  for  the  knowledge  of  that,  which 
God  only  has  made,  or  could  make,  manifest.  Thus,  by  the 
folly  of  its  friends,  who  have  literally  "  gone  down  to  Egypt 
for  help,"  and  the  bold  cunning  of  its  enemies,  who  strike 
strongly  against  the  polemic,  that  has  flung  away  the  shield  of 
faith  and  the  sword  of  the  Spirit  to  wield  weapons  of  man's 
forging,  the  Gospel  is  put  in  a  false  position,  from  which  no 
human  means,  under  God,  can  extricate  it,  but  sanctified 
learning. 

There  is  not  one  modem  theory,  which  has  not  been  con- 
structed, as  the  later  Romans  build  their  houses,  with  materi- 


A  PLEA   FOR   STUDY.  353 

als  taken  from  ancient  ruins ;  every  great  metaphysical  dispute, 
now  agitated,  has  a  source  more  early  than  history  can  reach ; 
nor  is  it  possible  to  reason  correctly  backward,  through  the 
confusion  of  multiplied  eclecticisms,  to  the  errors  which  those, 
who,  departing  from  the  faith  given  by  God  to  man  at  the 
beginning,  and  "  professing  to  be  wise,  became  fools,"  have 
mingled  with  that  primeval  revelation.  There  is  (blessed  be 
the  Almighty  Comforter !)  a  divine  witness  in  the  Gospel  it- 
self, more  convincing  than  any  corroborative  testimony  ;  but, 
except  we  deem  valueless  the  confirmation  of  experience,  and 
leave  all  the  results  of  past  inquiry  to  the  perversions  of  skep- 
tics, we  must  study  the  learning  of  antiquity,  before  we  can 
fairly  vindicate  the  necessity  and  excellence  of  that  sys- 
tem, which  we  have  received  from  the  Holy  Ghost.  It  is, 
when,  after  thorough  search,  we  fail  to  discover  in  ancient 
books,  except  the  Bible,  a  logical  argument  for  the  Be- 
ing of  God  or  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  stronger  than  a 
general  traditionary  notion  ;*  or  any  scheme  of  philosophy, 
which  could  account  for  the  existence  of  matter,  antagonist  to 
spirit,  and  limiting  even  the  will  of  the  One  they  called  Su- 
preme ;t  and  far  back  as  we  go,  we  see  clearer  and  yet  more 


*  Ut  pono,  firmissimum  hoc  aferri  videtur  cum  Deos  esse  credamus, 
quod  nulla  gens  tam  fera,  nemo  omnium  tam  sit  immanis,  cujus  men- 
tem  non  imbuerit  Dcorum  opinio;  et  seq. — Tusc.  Quces.  1,  c.  13. 

t  Citations  would  be  superfluous  (had  we  room)  to  show,  that  no 
scheme  of  ancient  philosophy  made  matter  otherwise  than  eternal. 
Matter  could  not  be  accounted  for  by  emanation  from  The  ONE,  and, 
therefore,  it  was  impossible  for  them  to  consider  it  entirely  subject  to 
His  will.  Creation,  in  our  sense  of  the  term,  out  of  nothing,  is  not  to  be 
found  among  their  conjectures.  Here  is  a  radical  distinction  from  the 
doctrine  of  the  Scriptures,  which  renders  the  Platonic  theory  utterly  ir- 
30* 


354  A   PLEA   FOR    STUDY. 

clear  traces  of  an  early  God-taught  knowledge,  (fragments  of 
which  believed  in,  though  unproved,  because,  as  Plato  says, 
they  were  learned  by  children  at  the  breast,*  from  mothers 
and  nurses  among  barbarians  as  well  as  Greeks,  constitute 
whatever  is  genuine  in  their  elaborate  and  labyrinthine  spec- 
ulations,) that  we  are  ready  to  bow  with  a  more  humble  trust 
at  the  feet  of  the  Crucified,  who  made  all  things  and  upholds 
them,  revealed  life  and  immortality  by  the  radiance  which 
shone  through  his  broken  tomb,  and  now,  as  at  first  he  com- 
manded light  to  shine  out  of  darkness,  shines  in  the  hearts  of 
his  people,  the  brightness  of  his  Father's  glory  and  the  char- 
acter of  invisible  God. 

It  is  only  by  a  careful  study  of  the  ancients  themselves 
that  we  can  know  how  poor  were  their  best  thoughts  of  di- 
vinity ;  how  dim  and  comfortless  their  expectations  after 
death;  how  various  and  conflicting  their  definitions  of  the 
right  and  the  good ;  how  cold  their  morality,  which,  merging 
all  affection  in  wisdom,  accounted  the  poor  man,  the  laborer, 
and  the  uncultivated,  as  profane,  mere  slaves  of  the  initiated ; 
how  insufficient  their  motives  to  uphold  them  against  present 
temptation  ;  and,  at  least  in  one  case,  but  that  the  most  avail- 
able for  our  purpose  which  could  be  given,  how  anxious  their 
expectation  of  a  Teacher  from  heaven,!  who  would  show  us 

reconcilable  with  our  faith.  Should  any  one  be  disposed  to  quote  the 
Timseus  against  us,  he  will  find  himself  sufficiently  answered  by  Bruck- 
er.—Hist.  Phil.  Vol.  I.  p.  676-7. 

*  .  .  .  .  TrEf&o/xevoi,  Tolg  /xv^oi^,  ovg  kK  veuv  TtaiSuv  etl  kv  yuXa^i 
TpE^ofievoL  Tpo<pQv  re  tjkovov  nal  fiT^ripuv.  k.  t.  /I.     NOMOI,  I. 

t  AvayKalov  ovv  earl  irepifiiveiv  euf  uv  tlc;  fiu-Qy  ug  del  wpdg  T^eovg 
Kal  irpbg  uv&puirovg  dLanElc'&ai.  n.  t.  /i.    AAKIB.  AETT.  §  22, 


A   PLEA  FOR   STUDY.  355 

how  to  live,  and  how  to  pray,  and  what  to  hope  for.  Then 
are  we  prepared  to  resist  the  Platonist,  who,  intoxicated  with 
the  poetical  romancings  of  the  sublime  idealist,  would  per- 
suade us  that  we  are  gods,  knowing  good  and  evil ;  or,  to  flay 
the  Marsyas-hke  skeptic,  who  dares  to  match  his  skill  against 
the  Divine,  after  a  contest  with  him  upon  his  own  instruments. 
If  the  swan  of  Egina,  forsaking  the  safer  bosom  of  his  more 
modest  master,  never  reached  by  his  boldest  flight  the  cardinal 
fact,  which  a  Christian  child  reads  in  the  first  verse  of  his  Bi- 
ble, what  worth  to  us  can  be  theories  based  upon  the  fable  of 
emanation  ?  If  an  apostle  of  our  Lord  has  encouraged  us 
when  we  lack  wisdom  to  ask  of  God,  with  what  patience  can 
we  listen  to  men,  who  bid  us  search  and  find  within  our  sinful, 
creature  souls,  a  microcosm  of  all  ideas?  If  Socrates,  the 
best  of  the  ancients,  while  expecting  a  new  revelation,  con- 
tented himself  with  gathering  and  separating  from  the  rubbish 
of  superstition,  the  golden  particles  of  truth  washed  down  to 
him  by  the  traditionary  stream  ;  and  Aristotle,  the  greatest, 
never  showed  his  unequalled  sagacity  more  than  in  abstaining 
altogether  from  questions  of  religious  import;  and  Cicero, 
after  sitting  as  umpire  over  a  congress  of  all  sects,  pronounced 
the  atheist's  argument  most  true,  hoping  against  logic  that  re- 
ligion might  be  found  probable  ;*  how  very  ridiculous  is  the 
vanity  of  men,  who,  turning  their  backs  upon  the  Sun  of 
Righteousness,  which  nevertheless  will  shine  around  them, 
boast  that  they  can  demonstrate  by  their  puny  M'it  what  those 
giant  intellects  could  not  discover ! 

*  .  .  .  ita  discessimus,  ut  Velleio  CottiB  disputatio  verior,  mihi  Balbi 
ad  veritatis  similitudinem  propensior. — De  Natura  Deorum  III.  40. 


856  A  PLEA   FOR   STUDY. 

Were  they,  who  rebuke  us  for  these  studies,  as  inconsistent 
with  more  active  piety,  to  consider  how  much  of  our  common 
and  most  necessary  religious  privileges  have  been  derived, 
under  God,  from  such  learning,  the  tone  of  their  rash  and  un- 
grateful criminations  would  be  less  positive.  The  very  Scrip- 
tures, which  they  hold  justly  to  be  the  fountain  of  saving 
truth,  were  written,  at  first  in  scattered  pieces,  in  tongues  to 
them  unknown,  and  have  reached  us  through  long  ages,  and, 
until  the  art  of  printing,  by  the  uncertain  hands  of  trans- 
cribers. They  have  many  passages,  which,  had  we  no  ac- 
quaintance with  the  history,  customs,  opinions  and  idioms  of 
their  time,  would  be  utterly  inexplicable ;  so  that  to  translate 
them,  much  more  to  establish  the  canon,  to  verify  the  text  and 
elucidate  it  fully,  demanded,  and  still  demands,  extensive  eru- 
dition and  severe  literary  discipline.  To  open  the  paths  of 
heavenly  wisdom  for  the  little  feet  of  the  Sunday  scholar, 
mountains  have  been  levelled  and  valleys  filled  up,  crooked 
places  made  straight  and  rough  places  plain,  by  the  stupendous 
labors  of  untiring  minds,  who  employed  the  skill  and  strength 
which  study  only  could  give,  in  preparing  the  way  of  the 
Lord  to  preach  his  Gospel  to  the  poor.  Shall  it  be  lightly 
said,  that  the  hours  they  spent  discovering  the  secrets  of  lan- 
guage, comparing  the  various  operations  of  thought,  and  ob- 
serving the  effects  of  national  and  individual  peculiarities, 
were  wasted ;  though  to  accomplish  themselves  for  their  work, 
it  was  necessary  that  they  should  range  through  all  heathen 
literature,  biography  and  history,  eloquence  and  philosophy, 
epic,  lyric,  tragedy  and  comedy,  from  the  oldest  Orphic  frag- 
ment to  the  memoranda  of  Gellius,  the  gossip  of  the  Deipnoso- 


A   PLEA.  FOR   STUDY.  357 

phists,  and  that  last  link  in  the  chain  of  Hermes,  the  problems 
of  Proclus  ?  With  very  few  exceptions  (perhaps  only  one, 
the  glorious  old  dreamer,  Bunyan,)  since  the  days  of  the  apos- 
tles, the  servants  of  God,  whatever  may  have  been  their  im- 
mediate usefulness,  have  left  an  influence  upon  the  church  and 
the  world  lasting  and  wide  in  proportion  as  their  zeal  was 
seconded  by  learning.  Who  will  challenge  the  services  of 
Luther,  profoundly  versed  in  ancient  wisdom,  and  Melancthon 
(ille  Germanise  suae  magister,  omnis  doctrinae  presidio  in- 
structus,  divinis  humanisque  literis  ornatus*),  whose  eloquent 
exhortations  to  the  study  of  the  classics  have  come  down  to 
us  with  the  Augsburg  Confession ;  of  Calvin  and  Rivet,  whose 
Ciceronian  periods  enchant  the  scholar  as  much  as  their 
matchless  divinity  edifies  the  saint ;  of  Zuingle,  an  editor  of 
Pindar,  and  Piscator,  a  translator  of  Horace ;  of  Grotius, 
teacher  of  all  moral  science,  and  the  elder  Vossius,  worthy  of 
being  named  with  his  great  compatriot ;  of  Owen,  Baxter,  and 
Howe,  each  thoroughly  bred  to  the  use  of  books ;  of  Matthew 
Henry,  whose  apt  quotations  show  a  stretch  of  reading  which, 
from  his  modest  quaintness,  we  might  not  otherwise  have  sus- 
pected, and  Doddridge,  whose  style  betrays  early  familiarity 
with  classic  models  ;  of  Lardner  and  Warburton,  who  heaped 
the  spoil  of  the  Gentiles  in  the  temple  of  the  Lord,  and  of 
many  others,  not  to  speak  of  those  in  our  own  day  and  in  our 
own  land,  honored  alike  by  the  erudite  and  the  good  ?  Was 
their  piety,  because  of  their  learning,  less  active  or  less  use- 
ful, than  that  of  those  who  cannot  take  a  step  in  Christian 

*  Jo.  Alberti  Oratio  de  Poesi  Theologis  utili. 


358  A   PLEA  FOR    STUDY. 

duty,  but  leaning  on  their  help  ?     Can  we  be  wrong  in  at- 
tempting to  follow  their  examples  ? 

Temptations  there  may  be,  there  are,  in  a  studious  life, 
which  have  led  astray  many  an  unhappy  mind.  But  where 
is  there  not  temptation  ?  Is  the  Christian  in  the  counting- 
house,  the  work-shop  or  the  field,  free  from  it  ?  Does  the 
devil  triumph  more  in  the  retirement  of  a  library  than  in  the 
squabbles  of  ecclesiastical  councils,  where  the  most  empty  are 
always  the  most  noisy ;  or  in  those  mischievous  excitements, 
like  that  of  Israel  before  Horeb,  when  impatient  to  get  on, 
they  set  up  a  god  of  Egypt  to  counterfeit  the  presence  of 
Jehovah  ?  A  difficult,  but  useful  book,  is  no  bad  charm  to 
lay  those  evil  spirits,  who  love  the  dry  and  desert  places  of 
ignorance  far  more  than  a  well-filled  and  busy  head  ;  and  if 
we  cannot  force  out  the  tempter  by  reading,  we  may  try,  as 
Luther  did,  what  virtue  there  is  in  an  inkstand.  A  Christian 
man,  with  a  good  thought  in  his  brain  and  a  pen  ia  his  hand, 
is  more  than  a  match  for  a  legion  of  such,  as  would  drive  a 
swinish  multitude  down  a  precipice  into  a  sea  of  absurdity, 
fanaticism  or  crime. 

Defective  as  was  their  knowledge  of  divine  things  and  of 
physical  science  (though  our  pride  in  that  has  been  not  a  little 
shaken  by  recent  searches  among  their  monuments),  it  is  no- 
torious that  we  are  far  behind  the  ancients  in  many  other 
respects.  The  moderns  have  written  much  upon  government, 
the  laws  of  thought,  rhetoric  and  criticism,  but  their  rules  and 
examples  are  chiefly  drawn  from  the  standards  of  classic  ages ; 
and  every  faithful  student  knows  by  experience,  how  much 
more  can  be  learned  from  actual  conversation  with  the  Greek 


A.  PLEA  FOR   STUDY.  359 

and  Latin  masterpieces,  than  from  all  the  manuals  which  flat- 
ter us  with  a  promise  of  easy  acquisition.  It  is  to  them  we 
must  go  for  a  large  series  of  experiments,  which  they  made 
in  attempting  the  distribution  and  balance  of  power,  not  the 
less  instructive  because  they  were  so  remarkably  ignorant  of 
that  most  philanthropic  science,  Political  Economy,  which, 
next  to  the  Gospel,  whose  legitimate  offspring  it  is,  will  do 
more  than  any  thing  else  for  the  elevation  and  fraternization 
of  our  race.  Their  profound  and  indefatigably  curious  philo- 
sophical inquiries  anticipated,  as  we  said  before,  every  question 
now  vexed,  except  those  suggested  by  the  Scriptures.  Aris- 
totle's system  of  exact  definition,  nice  analysis,  and  direct 
demonstration,  governs  the  reasoning  world.  Plato,  in  rich- 
ness of  metaphor,  nobleness  of  diction,  and  musical  cadence, 
has  never  been  approached ;  and  an  oration  of  Demosthenes 
carefully  dissected,  will  show  us  better  how  to  carry  off  an 
audience  captive,  than  a  thousand  lectures  on  eloquence  from 
scholastic  chairs.  No  man  should  write  a  history,  who  has 
not  pondered  over  the  intense  narrative  of  Thucydides ;  or 
biography,  if  he  know  not  the  Life  of  Agricola  almost  by 
heart ;  or  an  essay,  until  familiar  with  those  of  Seneca,  super- 
fluous as  they  are  in  antithetical  conceits.  Homer,  whom  all 
have  emulated,  looks  down  from  his  dateless  throne  upon 
every  epic  adventurer.  Horace,  imitator  as  they  say  he  was 
of  AlcjEus,  has  never  found  a  successful  rival.  Milton  (whose 
obligations  to  the  classics  a  scholar  detects  through  all  his 
poetry),  Dryden,  Pope,  Collins,  and  Gray,  caught  the  fire  and 
rhythm  of  their  odes  from  Pindar.  The  pithy  apothegms  of 
Juvenal  are  our  common  proverbs.     Where  but  in  the  dramas 


360  A   PLEA   FOR    STUDY. 

of  Shakspeare,  who  alone  lifts  his  head  superior  to  ancient 
comparison,  can  we  discover  the  tender  grace  of  Euripides, 
the  chastened  grandeur  of  Sophocles,  or  the  inexhaustible  wit, 
facile  play  of  words,  and  comic  satire  of  Aristophanes  ? 
Where,  even  in  Shakspeare,  is  there  a  conception  like  the 
Prometheus  or  Cassandra  of  -^ilschjlus,  who  transcends  our 
great  master  of  the  human  heart  by  transcending  the  sphere 
of  actual  humanity  ? 

But  not  to  multiply  instances,  unnecessary  before  this  audi- 
ence, it  may  be  confidently  asserted  that  no  high  excellence 
in  the  arrangement  or  expression  of  thoughts,  can  be  acquired 
without  cultivating  the  ancients.  A  careful  study  of  their 
languages  is  itself  an  education  in  strength,  clearness,  and 
delicacy  of  phrase,  not  merely  because  so  much  of  our  own 
has  been  taken  from  them,  that  we  cannot  understand  it  until 
we  understand  them,  but  because  of  their  superior  mechanism. 
The  Greek  (with  its  supposed  parent,  the  Sanscrit),  is  the 
greatest  and  most  mysterious  achievement  of  human  inven- 
tion ;  for  not  only  is  its  polish,  which  might  be  the  work  of 
progressive  refinement,  exquisite,  but  its  radical  principles  are 
perfect  in  philosophical  arrangement.  He,  who  knows  all 
things,  alone  knows  how  a  system  could  have  originated  in 
those  shadowy  ages  so  accurate  and  complete,  that  the  best 
style  of  modern  tongues  seems,  by  its  side,  rude  and  unregu- 
lated. We  do  not  go  too  far  in  saying,  that  it  exhibits,  more 
fully  than  anything  else,  the  relations  between  thought  and 
utterance,  and  that  a  thorough  acquaintance  with  its  con- 
struction is  as  necessary  to  the  metaphysician  as  the  critic. 

To  this,  and,  doubtless,  springing  from  the  same  source,  the 


A   PLEA   FOR   STUDY.  361 

Greeks  added  an  intense  love,  a  keen  perception  and  severe 
ideas  of  beauty,  which  rendered  their  compositions  simple  and 
harmonious,  yet  grand  or  graceful ;  like  their  own  matchless 
sculptures,  whose  drapery  was  managed  to  reveal  a  symmetry 
that  needed  no  decoration  to  conceal  defects,  but  animated,, 
breathing  and  energetic,  from  more  than  Promethean  fire. 
Nothing  can  be  mores  delightful  to  a  literary  mind,  nothing 
more  improving,  than  the  study  of  their  chaste  and  highly- 
wrought  JEstheticism.  Happy  is  he  who  can  bring  skill  in 
their  art  to  the  manifestation  of  those  heavenly  doctrines  which 
open  the  fairest  field  for  its  exercise,  and  are  never  so  true  as 
when  presented  in  their  own  naked  beauty !  It  is  not  the 
genuine  scholar  who  becomes  a  pedant,  nor  the  true  philoso- 
pher who  tampers  with  revealed  certainties ;  but,  while  half- 
taught  pretenders  astound  the  multitude  with  sonorous  poly- 
syllables, or  presumptuously  ventui'e  their  crude  conjectures, 
(stigmatized  by  the  learned  apostle,  as  "  philosophy  falsely  so 
called,")  the  man  of  faith  and  knowledge  employs  his  studious 
retirement  and  extensive  means  in  distilling  from  foreign  ad- 
mixtures the  waters  of  wisdom,  that  he  may  give  them  to  the 
thirsty  soul,  pure,  bright  and  transparent,  as  they  came  out  of 
the  fountain  above.  Nothing  so  much  abases  that  pride  which 
seeks  self-distinction,  as  a  sincere  love  of  the  true.  Compari- 
son with  great  ideas  teaches  us  the  insignificance  of  our 
powers,  and  then  exalts  us  by  the  warranted  ambition  of  se- 
curing our  own  glory  through  a  submissive  devotion  to  the 
glory  of  truth,  which  is  the  glory  of  God. 

From  these  considerations,  it  follows  that  study  should  be 
governed  by  an  elevated  and  religious  spirit.     Only  three 

31 


862  A   PLEA   FOE    STUDY. 

motives  are  allowed  to  us  in  any  pursuit :  the  honor  of  the 
Lord  our  Creator,  the  well-being  of  our  fellow  creatures,  and 
our  own  immortal  happiness.  These  are  so  interlinked  as 
not  to  be  separable.  God,  by  the  sanctions  of  his  law  and 
Gospel,  justifies  a  regard  to  our  own  good,  while  he  condemns 
selfishness,  and  makes  service  of  our  human  brethren  duty  to 
himself,  which  cannot  be  loyally  rendered,  except  we  find  in 
it  our  greatest  pleasure.  The  student,  to  be  successful,  must 
delight  in  his  noble  task.  He  will  meet  with  many  difiiculties 
and  disappointments.  His  toil  will  be  severe  and  increasing. 
In  themselves  his  trials  will  give  him  pain.  Yet,  as  the 
peasant  sweats  for  bread,  the  soldier  bleeds  for  honor,  or  the 
martyr  suflfers  for  his  cause,  he  encounters  and  bears  them  all 
for  the  sake  of  the  reward  before  him,  until,  after  some  de- 
termined practice  and  gratifying  successes,  he  loves  the  very 
labor,  and  difficulty  only  rouses  his  generous  courage.  No 
man  is  fit  to  be  a  student  unless  he  has  a  heart  for  study,  a 
love  of  the  beautiful  and  the  great  in  thought,  stronger  than 
any  other  passion,  and  an  energy  of  will  undaunted  by  any 
encounter.  His  calling  and  destiny  are  elsewhere.  He  may, 
according  to  his  capacity,  fill  some  lower  place  in  the  social 
economy,  but  the  rank  and  inheritance  of  a  scholar  are  not  for 
him.  Learning  is  jealous  of  all  rivals,  and  spurns  all  who  are 
too  sluggish,  or  timid,  or  sordid,  to  undertake,  dare  or  sacrifice 
every  thing  for  her  sake. 

There  are  those,  who  claim  to  be  men  of  letters,  and  per- 
haps of  some  note,  who  follow  study  for  a  trade,  and  make 
books  or  teach  out  of  them,  as  tinmen  make  or  peddlers  sell 
the  most  common  utensils,  but  would  in  a  moment  fling  aside 


A   PLEA.    FOR    STUDY.  SQ9^ 

their  scholarship,  such  as  it  is,  to  take  up  any  handicraft  that 
promised  better  wages.  Perhaps  we  ought  not  to  scourge 
these  money-changers  from  the  temple,  (though  our  fingers 
itch  for  the  small  cords,)  because  they  may  be  useful  in  a  de- 
gree;  Providence  employs  the  meanest  and  most  ugly  things; 
but,  certainly,  a  tinker  or  a  peddler,  who  loves  his  business,  is 
incomparably  more  worthy  of  respect,  than  men  who,  with 
such  advantages  of  knowledge,  appreciate  it  only  by  the  pence 
it  brings  them. 

There  are  those,  scarcely  less  mechanical,  who  lose  the  end 
of  learning  by  attention  to  the  minutiae  of  its  detail,  and  see 
nothing  in  a  classic  but  its  words  and  accents.  They  will 
turn  without  emotion  from  the  sobbing  sentences  in  the  last 
page  of  the  Phtedon,  to  luxuriate  among  the  scholia  at  the 
bottom;  or  stop  short  in  the  prayer  of  Iphigenia,  hanging 
on  the  knees  of  her  father,  that  they  may  hunt  for  author- 
ities about  the  suppliant  wreath,  to  which  she  compares 
herself  so  touchingly.  They  too  have  their  uses;  but  it 
is  as  stone-breakers  on  the  highway  of  knowledge,  or,  at 
best,  mere  proof  readers,  who,  the  printers  tell  us,  are 
more  likely  to  be  accurate  the  less  they  feel  an  author's 
meaning. 

Others,  again,  are  feverish  with  impatience  to  shine ;  and, 
since  the  beaten  path  is  too  much  crowded  by  better  men  to 
allow  them  notoriety,  they  seek  it  in  eccentric  and  venturesome 
novelties.  Like  Erostratus,  they  would  fire  the  most  sacred 
system  to  gain  a  name,  and,  careless  of  consequences,  abuse 
the  gifts  of  God  within  them,  to  set  the  crowd  agape.  Such 
men  are  very  mischievous,  and  the  more  so  the  more  learning 


364  A  PLEA   FOR    STUDY. 

they  have,  as  a  skilful  chemist,  if  malignant  enough,  would  be 
the  most  adroit  poisoner. 

There  are  yet  those,  who  eagerly  enjoy  the  pleasures  of 
study  without  any  regard  for  the  advantage  of  others ;  too 
intent  upon  learning,  to  teach,  and  upon  reading,  to  write ; 
absorbed  from  all  thought  of  the  living  their  association  with 
the  dead.  God  has  given  them  talent  and  opportunity  to  store 
their  minds  with  richest  treasures,  but  in  miserly  niggardliness 
they  keep  them  locked  from  the  world.  None  are  wiser  for 
their  knowledge,  and  the  Father  of  lights  receives  from  them 
no  tribute  of  praise.  Heavy  will  be  their  responsibility  in  that 
hour,  when  the  guilt  of  neglecting  to  do  good  shall  be  measured 
by  the  means  granted  to  accomplish  it. 

But  the  office  of  the  educated  is  to  be  benefactors  of  their 
race.  While  we  love  study  for  its  own  sake,  we  should  love 
it  far  more  for  the  sake  of  the  faculties  it  gives  us  to  exercise 
the  highest  form  of  beneficence.  Reputation  for  talent  and 
acquirements,  because  it  enhances  our  power,  may  fairly  be 
desired,  arid,  within  proper  limits,  sought.  An  intellectual 
laborer  is  not  less  entitled  to  remuneration  for  his  work,  than 
those  who  till  the  earth  or  ply  the  loom.  "Whatever  in  our 
studies  refines  our  taste,  improves  our  manners,  or  quickens 
our  sensibilities,  is  to  be  cherished,  because,  though  the  effect 
be  not  immediately  seen,  it  prepares  us  for  greater  success 
when  we  attempt  to  do  good.  Yet  usefulness  to  man  for  the 
glory  of  God,  should  be  the  student's  ruling  purpose.  That 
alone  can  maintain  in  us  an  unconquerable  courage,  lift  us 
above  the  dangerous  temptations  within  and  around,  and,  pu- 
rifying our  thoughts  from  selfish  and  sensual  defilement,  sane- 


A   PLEA   FOR   STUDY.  365 

tify  our  understanding  for  that  eternal  sphere,  where  charity 
never  fails,  though  tongues  shall  cease  and  knowledge  vanish 
away.  The  heart,  not  the  reason,  is  the  most  noble  part  of 
the  soul. 

It  would,  however,  be  a  grave  mistake  to  draw  knowledge 
only  from  books.  Human  nature,  in  all  ages,  is  radically  the 
same.  Books  help  us  to  understand  mankind,  and  intercourse 
with  mankind  helps  us  to  understand  books.  A  theory, 
which,  when  read,  we  think  right  or  wrong,  may  be  proved 
the  reverse  by  a  half  hour's  observation  of  actual  life ;  as,  on 
the  other  hand,  what  the  superficial  infer  with  ready  confi- 
dence from  a  few  obvious  facts,  may  be  utterly  opposed  by 
the  results  of  a  longer  trial,  recorded  by  the  historians  of  the 
past.  The  world  is  a  busy  laboratory,  where  experiments 
are  constantly  going  on,  by  which  we  should  try  our  hypothe- 
ses, and  gather  facts  for  farther  induction,  else  we  shall  be 
dupes  of  fantastic  speculation,  and  bring,  as  others  have  done 
before  us,  ridicule  upon  scholarship.  There  is,  it  is  true,  much 
folly  in  the  assumption  of  superior  judgment,  by  some  who 
claim  to  be  practical  men,  over  those  they  sarcastically  call 
theorists.  What  were  your  practical  men  without  the  aid  of 
theorists  ?  A  practical  blacksmith  may  make  a  lightning-rod 
that  saves  a  house  from  destruction,  but  the  theorist,  Franklin, 
first  showed  the  world  how  to  turn  aside  the  thunderbolts  of 
heaven.  A  practical  seaman  may  easily  navigate  a  ship,  but, 
first,  Napier  gave  him  logarithms,  and  Godfrey  his  quadrant, 
and  Bowditch  taught  him  how  to  use  them,  and  older  theorists 
discovered  and  made  plain  the  higher  principles.  The  prac- 
tical man,  on  errands  of  business,  may  shoot  along  a  railway, 
31* 


366  A   PLEA   FOR    STUDY. 

after  the  surveyor  and  engineer  have  done  their  work  and 
the  locomotive  has  been  made,  when,  but  for  them,  his  utmost 
speed  would  be  in  a  horse's  legs.  The  illustration  holds  good 
in  trade,  politics,  morals  and  every  thing,  that  affects  the 
comforts  or  interests  of  the  race.  Still,  without  practical  ob- 
servation, the  most  ingenious  reasoning  is  hypothesis  that  has 
not  gained  the  strength  of  theory,  nor,  until  put  to  the  test, 
can  theory  have  the  value  of  law. 

It  is  thus  with  us,  when  we  would  turn  our  knowledge 
derived  from  learning  to  a  useful  account.  To  make  men 
better,  it  is  not  enough  that  we  demonstrate  what  they  ought 
to  be ;  we  must  know  and  consider  what  they  are.  We  may 
imagine  for  them  a  state  of  health,  but  our  business  is  with 
them  in  a  state  of  disease,  which  we  must  understand  before 
we  can  apply  any  remedies.  Learning  gives  us  a  wider 
range  of  facts  than  he  has,  who  can  look  only  upon  his  little 
narrow  present,  and  we  have  all  the  benefit  of  former  expe- 
rience in  failures  or  success;  but  we  also  need  the  actual 
around  us.  Neither  Owen  nor  Fourier  is  an  original  genius. 
Abstract  philosophers  of  all  times  have  been  fond  of  picturing 
a  perfect  social  system.  Pythagoras  made  a  grand  mistake  in 
social  organization  at  Crotona,  and  John  Locke  framed  the 
exploded  constitution  of  South  Carolina ;  nor  would  any  Uto- 
pia, from  Plato's  to  Sir  Thomas  More's,  succeed  better.  Com- 
mon sense,  that  most  uncommon  thing,  which  is  nothing  else 
than  a  shrewd  application  of  ascertained  principles  to  things 
as  they  are,  should  temper  our  philosophical  ambition. 

Let  us,  then,  never  think  a  day's  study  done,  unless  we 
have  added  to  our  knowledge  from  reading,  something  more 


A  PLEA  FOE   STUDY.  367 

from  society  and  conversation.  Our  nature  is  social;  and 
much  seclusion  from  the  world  is  unhealthy  for  mind  and 
heart.  A  famous  scholar  recommends  a  companion  even  in 
study,  that  each  may  assist  the  other  with  his  peculiar  gifts  or 
attainments,  and  because  of  the  stimulus  which  mind  receives 
from  mind  when  brought  into  contact.  "We  know,  by  expe- 
rience, that  to  talk  over  a  subject  with  a  sensible  friend  is  a 
sui'e  way,  not  only  to  acquire  ideas  from  him,  but  to  call  them 
up  from  our  own  resources.  The  impulse  follows  us  back  to 
our  desks,  and  we  set  ourselves  again  to  our  work,  as  cheer- 
fully as  we  would  to  pleasant  food  after  a  long  walk  in  an 
agreeable  country.  But  we  should  not  confine  ourselves  to 
literary  associates.  The  conversation  of  intelligent  women,  if 
you  can  find  any  not  too  much  afraid  of  being  thought  "  blue 
stockings"  to  talk,  is  eminently  instructive.  They  have  a 
delicacy  of  tact,  a  truth  of  feeling,  and  a  direct  philosophy  of 
their  own,  past  our  finding  out,  which  the  most  profound  think- 
er may  listen  to  and  learn.  The  natural  ontworking  of  a  lit- 
tle child's  mind  is  an  excellent  metaphysical  study.  So,  often, 
are  the  rough-hewn  ideas  of  uneducated  people.  From  the 
most  ignorant  you  may  extract  something.  Their  crude  rea- 
sonings, unsophisticated  emotions,  and  even  their  prejudices 
and  superstitions,  will  not  seldom  supply  a  link  wanting  from 
your  own  chain,  or,  if  they  do  no  more,  should  make  us 
thankful  for  being  better  taught. 

There  is  danger,  however,  that  the  student  may  be  distract- 
ed from  his  great  purpose,  by  the  various  excitements  with 
which  the  popular  mind  so  often  becomes  vertiginous.  "  Se- 
mel  insanivimus  omnes,"  says  the  proverb ;  but  it  might  say 


368  A   PLEA   FOR   STUDY. 

"  semper,"  with  the  verb  in  the  present ;  for  men  are  ever 
prone  to  phrenzy,  and,  like  drunkards,  are  not  nice  about  the 
character  of  a  stimulant,  if  it  be  strong  enough  to  intoxicate. 
Perhaps  a  new  moral  nostrum  demands  universal  faith,  as  a 
wonder-working  cure  of  evil  hidden  until  now  from  prophet, 
apostle  and  sage ;  or  some  metaphysical  Rosicrucian  has  in- 
vented a  formula,  by  which  all  mysteries  may  be  resolved  into 
"  Easy  lessons  of  one  syllable ;"  or  a  political  contest  nearly 
divides  the  national  vote,  each  party  vehemently  asserting 
that  the  other  half  of  the  citizenship  are  knaves  or  fools,  who 
will,  if  successful,  certainly  blow  up  the  confederacy ;  or  a 
damsel,  put  to  sleep  by  the  intensity  of  another's  will,  is 
straightway  "  possessed  of  a  spirit  of  divination,"  reads  books 
out  of  the  back  of  her  head,  makes  excursions  to  the  moon, 
and  "  brings  her  masters  much  gain  by  soothsaying ;"  or  the 
world  is  coming  to  an  end ;  or  "  the  heavens  shine  supernatu- 
rally,  and  an  ox  has  spoken."  But  why  attempt  to  enume- 
rate the  proximate  causes  of  these  epidemics?  If  it  were  not 
one  thing,  it  would  be  another.  The  disease  is  in  human  na- 
ture. It  is  difficult  to  avoid  the  infection,  when,  if  we  remain 
calm  or  aloof,  we  are  denounced  as  cold,  averse  to  progress, 
indifferent  to  the  welfare  of  our  race,  irreligious,  even  impious ; 
and  meet  at  every  corner  enthusiasts,  wild  as  Thyades, 

.  .  .  ubi  audito  stimulant  trieterica  Baccho 
Orgia,  nocturnusque  vocat  clamore  Cithseron. 

But  do  not  suffer  yourselves  to  be  moved  from  your  onward 
studies.  History,  as  you  know,  is  full  of  such  instances.  The 
Scripture,  "  given  by  inspiration  of  God,"  "  that  the     i  r.  c  f 


A   PLEA   FOR    STUDY.  369 

God  may  be  perfect,  thoroughly  furnished  unto  all  good 
works,"  has  scarcely  left  any  ethical  secret  to  be  discovered 
by  the  genius  of  our  late  philanthropy.  The  inner  rows  of 
old  European  libraries  are  crowded  with  volumes  of  eager 
controversy,  painfully  written  upon  questions,  the  very  men- 
tion of  which  now  excites  pitiful  laughter.  Our  beloved 
country  has  ten  times  multiplied  her  strength,  and  promises 
more  fairly  than  ever  to  survive  the  results  of  general  elec- 
tions. Mesmerism,  or  something  very  like  it,  is  as  old  as 
Aristotle,  if  we  may  believe  a  fragment  of  Proclus.*  The 
earth  has  crushed  many  Millers,  and  will  crush  many  more, 
in  her  revolutions  to  attain  her  final  destiny;  while  every  page 
of  Julius  Obsequens  de  Prodigiis,  will  give  the  pattern  of  any 
alleged  eccentricity  from  common  laws. 

Neither  have  the  vanity  to  think  that  you  can  do  any  thing 
to  oppose  or  correct  the  prevailing  madness.  Wait  (and  you 
need  not  wait  long)  till  the  paroxysm  be  over.  You  cannot 
put  a  stra%ht  jacket  on  a  whole  community,  though  they  may 

*  "  That  it  is  possil>le  for  the  soul  to  depart  from  and  enter  into  the 
body,  is  evident  from  him  who,  according  to  Clearchus,  in  his  Treatise 
on  Sleep,  used  a  soul-attracting  wand  on  a  sleeping  lad,  and  persuaded 
Aristotle  that  the  soul  may  be  separated  from  the  body,  and  that  it  en- 
ters into  the  body  and  uses  it  as  a  lodging.  For,  striking  the  lad  with 
the  wand,  he  drew  out,  and,  as  it  were,  led  his  soul,  for  the  purpose  of 
evincing  that  the  body  was  immovable,  when  the  soul  was  at  a  distance 
from  it,  and  that  it  was  preserved  uninjured;  but  the  soul  being  led 
again  into  the  body,  by  means  of  the  wand,  after  its  entrance,  narrated 
every  particular."  The  MS.  Commentary  of  Proclus  on  the  Tenth 
Book  of  the  Republic,  quoted  by  Taylor  in  his  fragments  of  Proclus. 
The  translation  does  not  seem  precise  or  happy.  Those  who  have 
Taylor's  translation  of  the  Republic  at  hand,  may  find  the  original 
among  the  notes. 


370  A   PLEA   FOR    STUDY. 

send  you  to  Bedlam  for  the  attempt.  A  wise  man,  when  it 
storms  does  not  stay  to  chide  the  north  wind,  or  reason  with 
the  hail,  but  quietly  shuts  himself  up  in  his  library.  He  will 
not  think  that  the  sky  is  falling,  because  the  black  electric 
clouds  are  thundering  low  and  loud.  He  knows  that,  as  the 
clear  stars  are  shining  on  behind  the  tumults  of  our  mundane 
atmosphere,  the  great  principles  of  truth  are  fixed,  radiant 
and  harmonious.  Be  this  your  faith  and  your  practice ;  then, 
at  the  proper  season,  you  may  do  good  to  the  errorist,  blush- 
ing over  his  follies,  who  would  never  forgive  you,  if  he  knew 
that  you  had  been  near  when  the  fit  was  on  him.  It  would 
have  been  well  for  him  who  gives  you  this  counsel,  if  he  had 
always  followed  his  own  rule.     Piscator  ictus  sapit. 

Still,  there  is  such  an  intimate  connection  between  them, 
that  our  reason  cannot  act  rightly,  at  least  upon  moral  ques- 
tions, except  our  hearts  be  cultivated.  "We  must  learn  from 
sympathy  with  our  kind  what  our  nature  really  is ;  and  mark 
how  our  common  passions,  infirmities,  and  sinful  tendencies 
develop  themselves  in  circumstances  differing  from  those  in 
which  we  are  placed.  There  is  a  little  world  in  every  man's 
breast,  and  his  life  is  an  abridged  history  of  the  race.  We 
shall  find  much  to  shock  us,  and,  therefore,  to  humble  us ;  but 
also  much  to  pity  and  love,  which  will  make  us  more  kind. 
We  shall  think  worse  of  human  nature  in  general,  but  become 
less  uncharitable  toward  erring  individuals ;  and  feel  more 
strongly  the  obligation  upon  us  to  do  all  we  can  for  the  remo- 
val of  evil,  while  we  are  driven  to  dependence  upon  the  grace 
of  God  for  success.  The  best  teacher  that  ever  taught,  took 
upon  Him  our  nature,  that  from  a  personal  sense  of  our  weak- 


A   PLEA   FOR   STUDY.  371 

nesses  in  his  human  heart,  which  ached  with  all  our  sorrows, 
his  divine  wisdom  might  succor  us  according  to  our  tempta- 
tions. His  example  shows,  that  separateness  from  sinners  is 
not  seclusion  from  the  world,  and  that,  although  we  are  to  come 
out  from  it,  we  must  mingle  with  our  fellow-men  to  do  them 
good.  The  rule  of  the  Christian  should  be  the  method  of  the 
student. 

Scarcely  less  necessary  to  soundness  of  mind  are  good  per- 
sonal habits.  Compounded  as  we  are  of  matter  and  spirit, 
the  soul  energizing  through  animal  organs,  the  mind  is  always 
hurtfuUy  affected  by  an  ill-condition  of  body,  or  greatly  assist- 
ed by  its  well-ordered  vigor.  Care  of  his  health  is,  therefore, 
a  student's  duty,  not  only  because  unfaithfulness  to  a  charge 
so  precious  would  be  a  degree  of  suicide,  but  because  without 
it  his  intellectual  faculties  will  be  weakened  and  deranged. 
We  hear  every  day  of  studious  men,  breaking  down,  as  it  is 
called,  from  the  supposed  effects  of  application  to  books ;  and 
many  are  deterred  fi-om  mental  labor  by  fear  of  shortening 
their  lives.  If  slender,  they  think  themselves  too  feeble  for 
literary  toil;  if  robust,  requiring  more  active  employment. 
But  the  truth  is,  there  are  very  few  instances  of  health  de- 
stroyed by  study  itself.  Too  scanty  use  of  water,  want  of 
proper  exercise,  and  excess  of  food,  are  the  chief  causes 
of  those  morbid  affections  which  trouble  zealous  scholars. 
Different  temperaments  and  constitutions  demand  different 
treatment,  but  every  one  should  adapt  his  regimen  to  his 
circumstances.  It  is  preposterous  to  spend  eight  or  ten 
hours  a  day  in  a  library,  and  live  like  a  ploughman  or  a 
courtier. 


372  A   PLEA  FOR   STUDY. 

A  student  often  complains  of  an  unaccountable  dulness, 
when,  with  every  disposition  to  apply  himself,  he  can  accom- 
plish nothing,  and  his  brain  seems  in  a  fog  of  confused  ideas. 
Perhaps,  on  inquiring  of  his  memory,  he  will  be  told 
that  for  many  days  past,  he  has  washed  only  his  face 
and  hands,  as  if  the  show  of  cleanliness  were  the  end 
of  it.  In  such  eases,  of  all  remedies  for  his  stupidity,  water  is 
the  best,  especially  if  he  add  to  it  a  common  compound  of  oil 
and  alkali,  and  apply  it  briskly  by  an  equally  common,  bristly 
implement.  He  will  rise  from  his  bath  renovated,  with  a 
consciousness,  next  to  a  good  conscience  the  most  happy,  of 
having  done  his  person  as  much  justice  as  the  laundress  does 
his  linen,  when  she  plunges  not  only  those  parts  which  will  be 
visible,  but  the  whole,  in  a  capacious  vessel,*  nor  ceases  her 
exertions  until  the  cleansing  be  thorough  and  complete.  Every 
pore  being  thus  unclogged,  and  the  action  of  the  skin  stimulated, 
the  mind,  which  was  sluggish  for  want  of  free  breathing,  will 
be  cheerful  and  bright,  the  fancy  active,  the  reason  vigorous, 
and  the  judgment  clear.  He  has  gained  time  instead  of  losing 
it,  by  his  lustration.  The  fountain  Hippocrene  was  but  twenty 
stadia  from  the  residence  of  the  Muses.f 

Another  serious  error  is  the  neglect  of  physical  exercise  in 
a  proper  degree  and  kind.  A  shrewd  observer  of  his  country- 
men has  remarked,  that  Americans  work  hard  only  their  brains 
and  their  stomachs,  by  which  fact  he  accounts  for  the  attenua- 

*  "  Labrum  si  in  balineo  non  est,  (fac)  ut  sit."  Cic.  Ep.  ad  Terentiam, 

20. 

t  The  reader  will  find  this  subject  admirably  treated  in  a  volume  on 
Baths,  by  an  eminent  medical  authority — Doctor  -John  Bell,  of  Phila- 
delpha,  whom  the  author  has  the  honor  to  number  among  his  kindest 
and  most  valued  friends. 


A    PLEA   FOR    STUDY.  373 

tion  and  angularity  of  form  so  frequent  among  us.  It  is  diffi- 
cult for  the  student  to  turn  away  from  his  books,  when  life  is 
so  short  and  science  so  vast ;  but  it  is  poor  economy  to  saA^e  a 
few  hours  by  unfitting  ourselves  for  future  exertions.  Man  y 
imagine  that  they  do  take  pains  in  this  respect,  though,  very 
often,  after  the  consequences  of  former  neglect  have  been 
fastened  upon  them ;  but,  even  then,  the  method  of  exercise 
is  not  adapted  to  the  purpose.  Sawing  wood  in  a  cellar,  swing- 
ing heavy  weights  in  a  room,  or  dragging  oneself  through 
long  aimless  walks,  seems  rather  to  fatigue  the  limbs  than 
agitate  the  whole  system.  Besides,  the  train  of  thought  still 
goes  on,  there  is  nothing  in  such  employment  to  relieve  the 
mind,  and  the  student  returns  unrefreshed,  even  tired,  less 
disposed  than  before  to  the  task  of  "  taking  exercise."  Exer- 
cise, to  be  of  service,  must  be  enjoyed,  and  to  be  enjoyed  must 
have  some  aim,  no  matter  what,  so  that  it  be  innocent,  which  will 
occupy  our  thoughts  pleasantly.  There  is  a  most  perniciously 
false  public  opinion  among  us,  which  looks  upon  athletic  amuse- 
ments as  undignified  for  intellectual  men,  and  almost  wicked  for 
clergymen.  People  would  be  shocked  to  see  grave  black-coated 
personages  engaged,  like  school-boys,  in  a  game  of  ball,  or 
contending  with  each  other  in  pitching  quoits ;  yet  an  occasion- 
al, even  frequent,  exercise  of  some  such  sort,  would  save  many 
a  promising  young  man  from  an  early  tomb,  and  prolong  the 
usefulness  of  many  prematurely  old.  "  All  work  and  no  play," 
is  as  poor  a  maxim  for  the  adult  as  the  child ;  it  makes  the 
one  dull  as  it  does  the  other  ;  for  we  are  but  "  children  of  a 
larger  growth."  Constant  sedentariness  impaii's  the  action  of 
mind.     Our  thoughts  become  too  abstract,  unnatural,  and  often 

32 


374  A   PLEA   FOR   STUDY. 

gloomy.  The  brain  takes  the  tone  of  the  stomach.  Some 
starve  it,  thereby  to  obviate  the  necessity  of  exercise,  and  grow 
light-headed  or  visionary ;  others  overload  it,  and  grow  con- 
fused, melancholic,  or  ill-tempered.  It  has  been  observed,  that 
wars  involving  lasting  mischief  to  great  nations,  have  arisen 
from  a  ministerial  despatch  having  been  written  during  a  fit 
of  indigestion.  Dryden's  favorite  inspiration,  when  wishing 
to  do  better  than  usual,  was  a  strong  saline  draught ;  and  a 
very  eminent  English  statesman  resorted  to  a  similar  mode  of 
clearing  his  head.  It  is  more  than  probable  that  hurtful  theo- 
ries are  often  promulged  in  books,  whose  authors  labor  under 
similar  difficulties  without  taking  means  to  remove  them,  which 
pleasant  out-door  exercise  might  do.  If  so,  to  abstain  from  it 
is  a  sin  against  ourselves  and  the  world. 

Here  is  the  secret  of  that  sound,  clear-headed  vigor,  for 
which  Scotch  intellect  is  so  notable.  The  Oxford  and  Cam- 
bridge fellows  and  doctors,  seldom  stirring  beyond  the  limits 
of  their  shaded  quadrangles,  or  moving  but  in  the  slow-paced 
dignity  of  gown  and  oflice,  reason  for  the  actual  world,  of 
which  they  know  little  and  cannot  sympathize  with,  from 
mediaeval  precedents,  or  patristical  authorities,  and  turn  up 
their  vellum-colored  noses  at  all  who  will  not  swear  in  the 
words  of  their  masters.  The  German  scholar,  scarcely  less 
confined  to  academic  limits,  will  most  likely  famish  on  a  biscuit 
a-day,  or  gorge  himself  with  sour-crout  and  black  beer,  though 
working  two-thirds  of  the  twenty-four  hours,  the  efiects  of 
which,  among  immense  contributions  to  learning,  are  seen  in 
thoughts  drawn  out  to  their  utmost  ductility,  or  in  heavy  lu- 
cubrations upon  minute  particulars.     But  the  Scotch,  even 


A   PLEA  FOR   STUDY.  375 

when  gray  with  age,  lays  his  volume  or  pen  aside,  gladly  to 
join  in  his  ancestral  game  of  golf,  or  to  curl  the  stone  upon 
the  ice,  or  following  the  clear  stream,  to  fill  his  creel  with  finny 
spoils ;  and  returns  to  his  books,  sturdy  in  body  and  happy  in 
spirit. 

It  may  not  be  so  with  feeble  constitutions,  but  for  those  in 
health  violent  exercise  before  study  is  not  advisable.  The 
excitement  is  too  high,  and  the  hand  trembles  as  its  fingers 
close  upon  the  pen.  Still,  occasions  should  be  sought  to  put 
every  muscle  into  full  ac.ion.  Among  out-door  recreations, 
none  has  been  a  greater  favorite  with  studious  men  of  Great 
Britain,  because  none  is  more  suited  to  quiet  habits,  fondness 
for  retirement,  and  love  of  nature,  than  angling,  not  in  the 
sea,  but  in  brooks  or  rivers,  where  the  genus  Salmo  abounds. 
A  catalogue  of  men  illustrious  in  every  department  of  knowl- 
edge, who  have  refreshed  themselves  for  farther  useful  toil  by 
this  "  gentle  art,"  as  its  admirers  delight  to  call  it,  would  be 
very  long ;  and  those  who  would  charge  them  with  trifling, 
perhaps  worse,  might,  with  some  modesty,  reconsider  a  cen- 
sure which  must  include  Izaak  Walton,  the  pious  biographer 
of  pious  men ;  Dry  den,  Thomson,  Wordsworth,  and  many 
more  among  the  poets ;  Paley,  WoUaston,  and  Nowell,  among 
theologians;  Henry  Mackenzie  (the  Man  of  Feeling),  and 
Professor  Wilson,  the  poet,  scholar  and  essayist ;  Sir  Humph- 
rey Davy,  author  of  Salmonia ;  Emmerson  the  geometrician ; 
Rennie  the  zoologist ;  Chantrey  the  sculptor,  and  a  host  of 
others,  who  prove  that  such  a  taste  is  not  inconsistent  with  re- 
ligion, genius,  industry  or  usefulness  to  mankind.  It  has  been 
remarked,  that  they,  who  avail  themselves  of  this  exercise 


376  A   PLEA   FOR    STUDY. 

moderately  (for  as  one  says,  "  make  not  a  profession  of  a  re- 
creation, lest  it  should  bring  a  cross-wish  on  the  same,"*)  and 
are  temperate,  attain,  generally,  an  unusual  age.  Henry  Jen- 
kins lived  to  a  hundred  and  sixty-nine  years,  and  angled  when 
a  score  past  his  century ;  Walton  died  upwards  of  ninety ; 
Nowell  at  ninety-five,  and  Mackenzie  at  eighty-six.  "  Such 
frequent  instances  of  longevity  among  anglers,"  says  a  writer 
on  the  subject,  "  cannot  have  been  from  accident,  or  from  their 
having  originally  stronger  stamina  than  other  mortals.  Their 
pursuits  by  the  side  of  running  streams,  whose  motion  imparts 
increased  vitality  to  the  air,  their  exercise  regular  without 
being  violent,  and  that  composure  of  mind  so  necessary  to  the 
health  of  the  body,  to  which  this  amusement  so  materially 
contributes,  must  all  have  had  an  influence  upon  their  physical 
constitution,  the  effect  of  which  is  seen  in  the  duration  of 
their  lives."! 

Studious  men,  who  live  in  the  country,  are  more  advanta- 
geously situated ;  but  he,  who  is  pent  up  in  a  town,  vexed  by 
the  excitements  of  the  day,  and  driven,  in  spite  of  himself,  to 
late  and  irregular  hours,  could  get  profit  every  way,  if  at 
times  he  would  seek  the  purer  air,  free  from  the  city's  smoke, 
and  with  his  rod  as  a  staff,  climb  the  hills,  and  ply  his  quiet 
art  in  the  brooks  that  wash  the  mountain  side,  or  wander 
through  the  green  valleys,  shaded  by  the  willow  and  the  tas- 

*  Experienced  Angler,  by  Col.  Robert  Venables  (at  one  time  Com- 
mander in  chief  of  the  Parliamentary  forces  in  Ulster).  London,  1662. 
Chap.  X.  Obs.  23. 

t  Scenes  and  EecoUections  of  Fly  Fishing,  &c.,  by  Stephen  Oliver, 
the  Younger,  p.  25. 


A   PLEA   FOR   STUDY.  377 

selled  alder :  "  Atte  the  leest,"  says  the  Lady  Juliana  Berners, 
"  he  hath  his  holsome  walke  and  mery  at  his  ease  ;  a  swete 
ayre  of  the  swete  savoure  of  the  meede  floures,  that  makyth 
hym  hungry.  He  heereth  the  melodyous  armony  of  fowles. 
He  seeth  the  yonge  swannes,  heerons,  duckes,  cotes,  and  many 
other  fowles,  wyth  theyr  brodes.  And  yf  he  take  fysshe ; 
surely,  thenne,  is  there  noo  man  merier  than  he  is  in  his 
spyryte."*  Nor  should  he  forget  the  best  of  books  in  his 
pocket,  and  a  few  well-chosen  jewels  of  truth  to  give  away, 
as  he  enjoys  the  simple  fare  of  some  upland  cottage,  or  chats 
with  the  secluded  inmates  during  the  soft  twilight,  before  he 
asks  a  blessing  upon  the  household  for  the  night.  After  a  few 
days  of  such  communion,  sihi  et  Deo,  among  the  pleasant 
works  of  his  Maker,  and  a  grateful  sense  of  rustic  hospitality, 
he  will  go  home  a  more  healthy  man  in  mind,  body  and  heart 
This  advice  is  given  soberly,  earnestly  and  sonscientiously,  as 
the  fruit  of  experience.  If  any  should  follow  it,  and  be  af- 
terwards chided  for  wasting  time  by  those  who  prefer  dyspep- 
sia to  common  sense,  let  no  answer  be  given.  A  sour  stomach, 
and,  its  miserable  accompaniment,  a  sour  temper,  are  their 
own  punishment. 

*  JEljc  Sreat^se  of  jJajssijijnfle  tugtlj  an  Stnflle,  (attributed,  though 
erroneously,  to  Dame  Julian  de  Berners,  Prioress  of  Sopewell  Nunnery 
in  Herefordshire,)  first  printed  by  Wynkyn  de  Worde  in  the  Boke  of 
St.  Albans,  1496,  forty-four  years  before  the  first  classic  (Tully's  Epis- 
tles) was  printed  at  Oxford.  It  was  from  this  treatise  that  Izaak  Wal- 
ton took  the  hint  and  plan  for  his  well  known  "  Complete  Angler,"  a 
hundred  and  fifty  years  later;  and,  as  the  editor  of  Pickering's  edition 
says,  "  In  piety  and  virtue ;  in  the  inculcation  of  morality :  in  an  ardent 
love  for  the  art,  and  still  more  in  that  placid  and  Christian  spirit  for 
which  the  amiable  Walton  was  so  conspicuous,  the  early  writer  was 
scarcely  his  inferior." 

32* 


378  A   PLEA   FOR    STUDY. 

No  exercise,  however,  that  a  student  can  use,  will  counter- 
act the  effects  of  much  animal  food.  An  error  of  the  people 
in  this  country,  more  than  in  any  other  civilized  part  of  the 
globe,  is  being  too  carnivorous.  Other  persons  may  decide 
for  themselves  as  they  choose,  but  we  should  be  content  with 
a  simple  diet,  nutritious,  yet  as  little  stimulating  as  possible. 
The  command  to  Peter  :  "  Kill  and  eat,"  is  a  sufficient  refuta- 
tion of  those  pretenders  to  be  wise  above  what  is  written,  who, 
because  their  own  gastric  functions  are  as  weak  as  their  brains, 
would  reduce  all  men  to  bran  bread  and  slops ;  but  meat  more 
than  once  a  day  should  seldom  pass  a  student's  lips,  and  not 
much  then.  According  to  modern  notions,  the  end  of  tem- 
perance is  to  keep  people  from  getting  drunk;  the  apostle 
Paul  thought  it  to  be,  "  keeping  the  body  under ;"  but  what 
right  has  he,  who  eats  heartily  of  meat  at  breakfast,  repeats 
the  enormity  at  dinner,  and  again  at  supper,  to  expect  that  his 
humors  will  not  be  thick,  his  brain  muddy,  his  passions  insur- 
gent, and  his  ideas  gross ;  especially,  if  he  sit  at  his  desk  for 
many  hours  ?  This  indulgence  of  appetite  is,  nine  times  out 
of  ten,  at  the  bottom  of  the  student's  brain  fever  or  disordered 
digestion.  Many  commence  their  studies  when  past  early 
youth,  after  having  practised  some  trade  or  active  caUing,  and, 
anxious  to  overtake  time,  they  devote  themselves  with  unre- 
mitting zeal  to  their  books,  but  do  not  change  their  habits  at 
table.  Nay,  not  aware  that,  from  sympathy  of  the  stonaach 
with  the  brain,  mental  industry  produces  a  morbid  appetite, 
they  eat  with  increased  voracity.  Soon  their  color  grows 
sallow,  their  shoulders  stoop  from  lassitude,  they  become  ema- 
ciated and  sad,  make  some  sickly  efforts  to  do  good,  and  then 


A   PLEA  FOR   STUDY.  379 

creep  into  an  early  grave.  "  Poor  fellow ! "  exclaim  the 
friendly  mourners,  "  he  died  a  victim  of  studious  zeal."  No 
such  thing !  Let  the  epitaph-maker  chisel  upon  the  stone, 
for  the  warning  of  others :  "  Died  of  too  much  meat." 

Nature  teaches  us  better.  All  summer  long  she  gives  us  a 
succession  of  fresh  fruits  and  vegetables,  leaving  for  our  win- 
ter's store  others  which  last  us  till  summer  comes  again.  The 
charter  to  Noah,  the  wisdom  of  which  we  may  not  doubt,  did 
include  animal  food ;  but  we  should  remember  that  the  diet  of 
man  in  Paradise  and  purity,  was  wholly  vegetable. 

This  also,  if  you  will  take  it,  is  the  advice  of  one  who  has 
been  himself,  for  years,  a  close  student,  at  times  an  excessive 
student,  and  what  is  most  trying  of  all,  a  night  student ;  yet, 
with  a  constitution  much  better  fitted  to  sling  a  sledge  or  fol- 
low a  plough,  he  has  never  experienced  any  serious  inconve- 
nience, fairly  attributable  to  study  ;  which,  he  thinks,  is  be- 
cause, to  a  very  simple  and  moderate,  but  not  whimsically 
abstemious,  diet,  particularly  as  to  the  use  of  animal  food. 

Gentlemen,  much  more  might  be  said  in  vindication  of  our 
pursuits,  but  it  would  be  unfair  to  tax  your  courteous  patience 
any  farther.  Oui's  is  indeed  a  noble  calling.  All  antiquity 
speaks  to  us  ;  let  us  speak  to  all  posterity.  What  we  have 
received  from  God,  it  would  impoverish  us  to  withhold,  but 
will  enrich  us  to  impart.  Let  it  be  our  constant  care  to  culti- 
vate the  best  wisdom,  that,  as  we  receive  light  from  on  high, 
we  may,  in  our  turn,  shed  the  true  light  upon  the  world  around 
us.  In  a  little  while,  the  fashions,  the  riches,  the  empty 
pleasures,  and  the  tinsel  honors  of  this  life,  will  have  passed 
away.     We  can  carry  with  us  into  eternity  nothing,  of  which 


380  A  PLEA  FOK   STUDY. 

the  soul  is  not  the  treasury.  We  shall  never  all  meet  togeth- 
er again  in  this  world ;  but  we  shall  meet  before  the  Judgment. 
Then  may  each  of  us  be  able  to  present,  through  the  Inter- 
cessor, something  done  by  His  grace,  worthy  of  our  immortal 
powers,  useful  to  our  fellow-men,  and  glorifying  to  our  Maker ! 
God  bless  you ! 


THS  CLAIMS  OF  OUR  OOUWTHY  OST  ITo  LITERARY  MEN. 


AN    ORATION 


BEFORE    THE 


Pni  BETA  KAPPl  SOCIETY  OF  HARVARD  UMERSITY, 


JULY  19,  1849. 


(published  by  request.) 


0  R  A  T  I  0  y  .* 


Me.  Peesidext  A^"T)  Ge>t:le3iex  of 

The  Phi  Beta  Kappa  Societt: 
The  next  difficulty,  after  gaining  courage  to  address  so  dis- 
tinguished an  assembly,  is  the  choice  of  a  subject  The  orator's 
habits  may,  through  your  characteristic  courtesy,  influence 
his  decision ;  and  as  you  have  laid  the  honorable  appointment 
upon  one  who  has  been  consecrated  an  advocate  of  Christian 
morals,  you  will  not  be  displeased,  if  his  theme  should  accord 
with  his  calling.  His  task  wilL  then,  be  more  proportionate 
to  his  powers ;  for  the  discovery  of  truth  is  seldom  a  privilege 
of  man,  and  the  illustration  of  well-known  principles  in  a 
manner  that  gives  them  attractive  freshness  is  an  art  of  rare 
genius ;  but  to  urge  simply,  yet  earnestly,  the  motives  of  duty, 
is  not  above  the  pitch  of  an  ordinary  strength.  You  have. 
also,  gone  beyond  your  own  ranks,  (every  man  of  which  were 
more  worthy  of  the  office.)  and  commanded  the  present  ser- 
vice from  a  stranger  of  a  distant  city,  nurtured  at  the  bosom 
of  another  Alma  Mater,  who,  without  a  drop  of  Xew  England 

*  Some  of  the  main  thooghts  in  this  oration  were  the  substance  of  an 
oration  pronounced  by  the  author  before  the  Phi  Beta  Kappa  Society  of 
Dartmouth  College,  July,  1848. 


384  THE    CLAIMS    OF    OUR    COUNTRY 

blood  in  his  veins,  has  httle  knowledge  of  your  sectional 
topics,  sympathies,  or  predilections ;  therefore,  while  deeply 
grateful  for  the  compliment,  he  unhesitatingly  assumes  the  full 
right,  which  your  request  implies  of  speaking  as  it  becomes 
him  before  a  society  of  American  scholars,  fearless  of  giving 
offence  by  a  frank  utterance  of  his  thoughts,  certain  of  a  kindly 
hearing  from  those  whom  talent,  cultivated  under  the  best 
auspices,  has  made  liberal,  candid,  and  considerate. 

The  Claims  of  our  Country  upon  its  Literary  Men 
have  been  often  discussed;  but  the  field  is  so  rich,  that  it  may 
well  reward  an  hour's  gleaning,  though  many  strong  reapers 
have  gone  before. 

Patriotism  has  been  regarded  by  some  as  a  visionary  vir- 
tue, existing  only  in  boyish  dreams,  romantic  rhapsodies,  and 
declamations  of  demagogues ;  by  others  it  has  been  denounced 
as  a  naiTOW  vice,  the  opposite  of  Christian  philanthropy.  The 
first  are  at  variance  with  the  general  sense  of  mankind;  the 
last,  with  the  moral  economy  ordained  by  God.  That  there 
are  those  who,  while  professing  love  for  their  country,  would 
sacrifice  its  welfare  to  their  selfishness,  proves  no  more  than 
their  infirmity  or  hypocrisy.  Human  weakness  is  no  argu- 
ment against  the  reality  of  a  virtue ;  on  the  contrary,  a  false 
pretence  of  a  moral  principle  testifies  to  its  value,  for  cunning 
bad  men  cloak  their  evil  with  the  semblance  of  good.  It  were 
mere  commonplace  of  quotation  to  cite  instances  showing  the 
power  of  patriotic  sentiment.  Every  page  of  history,  and  of 
none  more  than  our  own,  records  its  courage  in  conflict,  or  its 
devotion  under  defeat.     Poetry,  the  language  which  genius 


ON    ITS    LITERARY   MEN.  385 

gives  to  the  heart,  exults  with  its  pride,  or  saddens  with  its 
sorrow.     The  orator  appeals  to  it,  seldom  in  vain,  as  among 
the  strongest  passions  of  our  nature.    The  ethical  philosopher 
defines  its  limits  and  adjusts  its  rules.     The  Holy  Scriptures- 
sanctify  it  by  their  infallible  authority,  when  they  preserve 
"  for  our  learning "  the   mournful  elegies  of  captive  Judah^ 
mingling  her  tears  with  the  waters  of  Babylon ;  or  bid  us 
"  Weep  not  for  the  dead,  neither  bemoan  him,  but  weep  sore 
for  him  who  goeth  away,  for  he  shall  return  no  more,  nor  see 
his  native  country;"  or,  above  all,  exhibit  the  sympathy  of 
Christ  himself,  the  Divine  perfection  of  humanity,  who,  on  his 
way  to  die  for  the  world,  paused  to  lament  over  Jerusalem, 
and,  as  he  sent  forth  the  "  glad  tidings  which  shall  be  for  all 
people,"  commanded   that   they  should  be  proclaimed  first 
throughout  the  land  of  his  birth.     Nay,  amidst  the  shades  of 
this  venerable  Academy,  where  so  many  mighty  spirits  have 
gathered  wisdom  that  they  might  go  out  to  give  their  grateful 
fellow-citizens  oracles  of  far-reaching,  conservative,  animating 
counsel,  and  so  many,  worthy  of  their  ancestry,  are  at  thi* 
time  refreshing  their  zeal  by  the  contemplation  of  such  high 
examples;  with  the  sacred  fields  round  about  us  on  which  the 
proto-martyrs  of  our  country  poured  forth  their  blood  like 
water,  and  in  close  sight  of  Bunker's  Hill, —  who,  under  the 
glory  of  "  so  great  a  cloud  of  witnesses,"  dares  question  the 
reality  of  a  virtue  so  magnanimous  in  trial  and  so  grand  in 
successes  ?     One,  who  has  been  a  companion  and  fellow  of 
miscalled  politicians,  holding  the  base  creed,  that  offices  made 
for  our  country's  advantage  are  the  legitimate  pay  of  success- 
ful, because  unscrupulous,  conspirators,  until  he  has  "quite 

33 


386  THE  CLAIMS  OF  OUR  COUNTRY 

lost  the  divine  quality  of  his  first  being,"  may  sneer  at  patriot- 
ism as  a  profligate  does  at  conscience,  or  a  wanton  at  modesty; 
an  atrabilious  misanthrope,  eager  after  proofs  of  human  pra- 
vity,  may  have  no  leisure  for  observing  the  beautiful  work- 
ings of  God  within  man  "  both  to  will  and  to  do  of  His  good 
pleasure;"  a  mystical  abstractionist,  inverting  his  reason  from 
the  actualities  of  common  life,  may  forget  the  common  feelings 
of  common  men ;  but  a  little  child,  whose  heart  leaps  at  the 
word  home,  and  knows  why  the  cannon  roars  on  the  twenty- 
second  of  February  or  the  fourth  of  July,  can  lead  us  to  a 
purer,  more  generous,  more  uplifting,  more  philosophical 
sentiment. 

Love  to  all  men  is,  indeed,  the  law  of  Christianity.  God, 
"  who  hath  made  of  one  blood  all  the  nations  of  the  earth,  for 
to  dwell  together  on  the  face  of  the  whole  earth,"  never  meant 
that  the  brotherhood  should  be  broken  by  territorial  bounda- 
ries, or  limited  by  expedients  of  trade.  Yet  none,  but  those 
who  have  gone  mad  upon  remote  generalisms  and  unities,  wUl 
deny  that  kindred,  vicinage,  and  organized  reciprocity  impose 
peculiar  obligations.  The  maxim,  that  "  charity  begins  at 
home,"  though  much  abused,  is  true.  While  God  is  the  great 
object  of  all  obedience,  each  man  is  made  the  centre  of  his 
human  relations.  His  regard  for  himself  is  the  inspired  rule 
and  measure  of  the  regard  due  from  him  to  his  fellows.  Next 
to  himself  is  his  household,  then  the  immediate  community  in 
which  he  lives,  then  his  country,  then  the  world.  Genuine 
benevolence  is  systematically  expansive.  It  is  educated  in 
the  family  for  the  state,  in  the  state  for  mankind.  A  disobe- 
dient child  will  not  make  a  good  citizen,  nor  one  unfaithful  to 


ON   ITS   LITERARY   MEN.  387 

his  countrymen  a  philanthropist.  These  affections  are  con- 
centric circles,  described  by  the  hand  of  the  All-Wise  around 
the  heart;  nor  is  it  possible  for  our  love  to  reach  the  outer, 
but  by  overflowing  the  inner.  Hence  the  mistake  of  the 
illogical  communist  is  apparent,  when,  to  realize  the  idea, 
truthful  in  itself,  of  a  universal  family,  he  would  destroy  the 
germ  from  which  the  grand  sociality  must  spring,  and,  with  it, 
the  household  dependencies  that  teach  a  mutual  well-being, 
the  household  needs  that  urge  a  combination  of  effort.  We 
sympathize  with  him  in  his  aim,  but  we  deny  the  wisdom  of 
his  process. 

For  the  very  reason  that  these  affections  are  concentric, 
they  never  clash.  The  Divine  law,  which  assumes  it  to  be 
right  that  a  man  should  love  himself,  because  he  is,  under 
God,  the  guardian  of  his  own  welfare,  enjoins  upon  him  love 
for  his  neighbor ;  and,  as  the  same  authoi'ity  requires  his  care 
for  those  to  whom  he  is  more  immediately  related  in  his  own 
Louse,  so  should  he  care  for  his  country,  which  is  an  enlarge- 
ment of  his  home,  and  for  the  world,  which  is  the  common 
home  of  his  heavenly  Father's  human  family.  But,  as  self- 
love  becomes  sinful  selfishness  when  it  prompts  a  man  to  war 
against,  or  even  neglect,  his  neighbor's  good,  so  does  love  of 
country  become  a  vice  when  it  seeks  national  aggrandizement 
by  injury  done  the  people  of  other  lands.  The  same  rule 
that  measures  duty  between  man  and  man  is  equally  applica- 
ble to  nations.  As  an  individual  is  dependent  upon  his  fel- 
lows, as  a  community  is  prosperous  through  a  distribution  of 
labor  and  a  reciprocity  of  benefits,  so  must  international  ex- 
changes be  for  the  good  of  each  and  of  all ;  and,  since  it  is  a 


388  THE    CLAIMS    OF   OUR    COUNTRY 

law  of  retributive  providence,  political  science  should  adopt 
as  an  axiom,  "  The  liberal  deviseth  liberal  things,  and  bj  libe- 
ral things  shall  he  stand." 

The  nearly  synonymous  use,  in  these  remarks,  of  the  terms 
duty  and  affection  has  arisen  from  no  confusedness  of  thought, 
but  from  the  difficulty,  or  rather  impropriety,  of  treating  them 
apart  from  each  other.  What  life  is  to  the  animal  frame,  love 
is  to  morals.  The  anatomist  may  dissect  a  dead  body,  and  de- 
monstrate the  functions  of  each  part  in  the  wonderful  mecha- 
nism ;  but  the  tnysterious  motive-power,  which  gave  impulse 
to  all,  is  gone.  So  the  moralist  who  leaves  love  out  of  view, 
however  accurately  he  may  define  our  relations  and  deduce 
rules  of  conduct,  presents  us  with  a  cold,  inanimate  abstrac- 
tion. Such  is  not  the  system  of  the  Bible.  There,  all  duty 
is  comprehended  by  love.  Love  is  the  vital  principle  of  obe- 
dience to  God  and  of  service  to  man.  Reason,  unduly  lauded 
as  the  superior  quality  of  our  nature,  is,  even  when  embracing 
by  faith  "  the  wisdom  from  above,"  valuable  only  as  it  ad- 
vances the  development  of  love  towards  its  heavenly  perfec- 
tion in  the  likeness  of  God.  Hence,  by  the  Divine  arrange- 
ment, there  is  for  every  duty  an  inspiring  affection.  The  love 
of  parents  for  their  child  precedes  proof  of  parental  obligation  ; 
the  love  of  a  child  for  its  parents  is  the  stem  on  which  filial 
duty  must  be  grafted.  Omniscient  grace  exhibits  the  forgive- 
ness of  God,  "  that  he  may  be  feared ;"  and  constrains  us  from 
sin  to  the  love  of  Christ,  by  "  shedding  his  love  abroad  in  our 
hearts ;"  because,  "  if  Ave  love  him,  we  shall  keep  his  com- 
mandments." Thus  love  of  country  is  first  called  forth  by  the 
power  of  association  over  our  natural  sensibilities.     As  a  babe 


ON   ITS   LITERARY   MEN.  389 

learns  to  love  the  face  which  smiles  kindly  on  him,  the  voice 
which  gently  soothes  him,  the  bosom  which  yields  him  suste- 
nance, the  clasping  arm  which  embraces  him,  so  do  we  love 
the  scenes  about  our  early  home,  the  haunts  of  familiar  and 
friendly  intercourse,  the  fields  which  give  us  bread.  They 
may  be  rugged  and  unattractive  to  a  stranger's  eye,  but  the 
heart  radiates  over  them  its  own  beauty.  His  icy  plains  are 
as  dear  to  the  hyperborean  as  the  Alpine  valley  to  the  Swiss, 
or  the  vine-clad  hills,  laughing  shore,  and  purple  sea  to  the 
Italian.  Then,  as  reason  expands,  the  love  expands.  We 
learn  to  love  the  people  whose  welfare  is  united  with  our  own, 
and  the  soil  held  in  common  with  them ;  to  cherish  the  gov- 
ernment whose  laws  afford  us  protection ;  or,  if  it  be  tyranni- 
cal, to  struggle  for  a  better,  and  to  die  rather  than  suffer  for- 
eign domination.  Yet,  though  rational  self-interest  should 
enhance  the  affection,  it  is  not,  of  itself,  a  sufficient  principle  of 
duty ;  for,  if  we  consider  only  the  profit  which  our  country 
brings  us,  we  shall  serve  it  only  so  far  as  the  service  is  profit- 
able. Love  is  the  strength  of  patriotism ;  for  love  alone  is 
capable  of  that  unhesitating,  self-sacrificing  devotion  which 
seeks  reward  in  our  country's  honor,  holding  fortune,  ease, 
and  life,  as  our  country's  fathers  held  them,  cheap  for  its  sake. 
Nor  can  we  doubt  that  a  sentiment  so  natural,  so  generous,  so 
energetic,  divinely  indicates  a  corresponding  obligation;  or 
that  unfaithfulness  to  our  country  is  unfaithfulness  to  God. 

This  brief  reasoning  may  seem  unnecessary,  and  it  would 

be,  were  it  not  for  a  disposition,  too  often  shown  by  some 

claiming  superior  refinement,  to  treat  patriotism  as,  at  best,  a 

weakness  of  the  vulgar,  forgetting  that  many  of  what  are  call- 

33* 


390  THE    CLAIMS    OF   OUR    COUNTRY 

ed  weaknesses  belong  to  the  best  parts  of  humanity.  Like 
the  early,  fragrant  blossoms  of  the  vine,  they  promise  fruits  of 
active  usefulness;  or,  like  its  slight,  graceful  tendrils,  they 
twine  our  pliant  infirmity  around  the  upright  strength  of  as- 
certained rule.  The  spirit  of  patriotism  has  also  decayed 
among  our  people  generally.  Vain  and  boastful  as  we  have 
been  said  to  be,  it  is  only  in  the  United  States  of  America 
that  you  can  hear  natives  speaking  contemptuously  of  their 
country.  Some  causes  for  this  may  be  discerned.  The  im- 
mense extent  of  our  country,  our  allegiance  to  which  passes 
through  our  allegiance  to  our  several  States,  whose  rights 
must  be  watchfully  guarded ;  the  consequent  variety  of  pro- 
ducts and  circumstances,  creating  a  supposed,  but  not  real,  op- 
position of  interests  ;  the  very  greatness  and  unprecedented 
progress  of  our  prosperity,  allowing  no  salutary  lessons  from 
grave  adversity ;  the  licentiousness  of  party  rancor,  stimulated 
far  more  by  the  cupidity  of  profligate  office-seekers  than  by 
any  substantial  difference  of  political  doctrine ;  the  inability  of 
the  less  educated  or  less  gifted  to  look  over  the  vast  field,  and 
comprehend  the  stretch  of  their  personal  responsibility ;  the 
too  general  aversion  of  the  good  and  wise  to  meddle  with  can- 
vasses made  purposely  annoying  by  gross  demagogues,  who, 
Aristophanes  tells  us,  are  like  the  eel-fishers  of  the  Copai's, 
that  do  best  in  dirty  waters  ;*  —  all  these  have  a  tendency  to 
cool  down  our  ardor  to  a  more  latent  heat ;  but  above  all,  the 
remoteness  of  other  countries,  which  renders  less  noticeable 

*  "Oirep  yap  ol  rug  eyx£^£i5  ■QrjpufievoL  TT(TTOi>-&ag. 
"Orav  fiev  rj  Xi/uv?}  Karaary,  T^afifiuvovaiv  ov6ev  • 
'Euv  6'  uvu  TS  Kal  kutotov  (Sopfiopov  hvkuolv, 
kipovai.  innHS,  864—867. 


ON   ITS   LITERARY  MEN.  391 

the  contrast  of  our  unequalled  privileges.  "We  see  the  evUs 
that  exist  among  ourselves,  and  feel  what  Locke  calls  our 
"  present  uneasiness,"  while  we  admire  what  appears  desira- 
ble abroad  under  the  "  enchantment "  of  distance.  Besides 
our  Anglo-Saxon  blood,  though  tempered  by  alternating  ex- 
tremes of  heat  and  cold,  retains  its  propensity  to  quarrel  and 
(pardon  the  rude  English,  —  no  other  language  supplies  us 
with  a  synonyme)  to  grumble ;  so,  having  none  else  to  quar- 
rel with,  nothing  else  to  grumble  at,  we  vent  our  hereditary 
spleen  upon  ourselves  and  our  government.  In  a  word,  we 
lack  a  proper  degree  of  loyalty. 

Loyalty  is  the  very  term  to  describe  the  sentiment  that  cor- 
dially acknowledges  the  claims  of  our  nation  upon  our  love 
and  service.  It  has  indeed  signified,  almost  exclusively,  the 
fidelity  of  a  subject  to  his  prince  ;  nor,  though,  from  our  po- 
litical habits,  we  cannot  comprehend  the  feeling,  can  we  help 
admiring  the  many  instances  of  heroic  valor,  patient  constan- 
cy, disregard  of  loss  or  suffering,  and  zeal  through  good  or 
evil  fortunes,  which  such  attachment  has  prompted.  Yet, 
though  the  principle  has  undoubtedly  come  down  from  those 
early  times  when  the  patriarch  was  the  chief  of  his  tribe,  its 
more  modern  name  is  clearly  derived  from  considering  the 
monarch  as  the  head  of  the  State,  because  the  representative 
of  the  incorpot-ating  law.  To  uphold  the  authority  of  him 
who  sat  upon  the  throne,  because  it  was  necessary  for  the  sta- 
bility of  government  and  the  safety  of  the  people,  became  a 
virtue  as  well  as  a  policy ;  yet,  (such  is  our  nature,)  through 
the  force  of  association,  the  person  of  the  reigning  prince  grew 
to  be  so  sacred,  that  it  often  attracted  and  absorbed  the  horn- 


392  THE   CLAIMS    OF    OUR   COUNTRY 

age  due  him  only  in  his  official  character ;  and  history  tells  us 
of  men  clinging  desperately  to  the  anointed  fool  who  sported 
with  their  destinies,  the  priest-ridden  bigot  who  persecuted 
their  religion,  and  the  licentious  tyrant  who  preyed  upon  their 
substance  or  wasted  their  lives. 

Loyalty,  with  us,  is  more  agreeable  to  the  etymology  of  the 
term.  It  is  a  reverent  attachment  to  law  emanating  from  the 
people  according  to  the  Constitution.  Our  magistrates,  it  is 
true,  are,  during  their  term  of  office,  representatives  of  the 
law,  and,  as  such,  should  receive  our  venerating  obedience ; 
nay,  very  grave  must  be  the  provocation,  before  we 

"  'bate 
The  place  its  honor  for  the  holder's  sake ;" 

but  our  loyalty  cannot  be  given  to  them,  because  they  are  the 
creatures  of  the  popular  will.  Our  only  sovereign,  under 
God,  is  the  people  acting  legally;  and  to  them,  while  just  in 
the  exercise  of  their  constitutional  sovereignty,  is  due  that 
fealty,  which  political  propriety,  with  the  Word  of  God,  com- 
mands from  us  to  "the  higher  powers"  of  the  land.  Hence, 
the  loyalty  of  an  American  citizen  is  of  a  more  intellectual 
character,  and,  therefore,  more  difficult  to  be  maintained. 
The  person  of  a  king  is  a  visible,  tangible  object,  and  men  can 
regard  him  as  a  man ;  but  our  people  are  such  an  immense 
multitude,  that  it  is  not  easy  to  regard  them  in  their  aggregate 
capacity,  except  as  a  theoretical  idea ;  though,  truly,  the  king 
is  the  figment,  the  people  the  substantial  reality.  The  will 
of  a  monarch  comes  down  upon  his  subjects  from  a  height 
which  long  prescription  has  taught  them  to  consider  the  source 


ON    ITS    LITEBART   MEN.  393 

of  law;  the  will  of  our  people  ascends  through  their  ballots, 
and,  when  justified  by  the  national  compact,  becomes  the  law, 
which,  by  the  same  compact,  we  are  bound  loyally  to  obey. 
But  in  the  formation  of  this  law,  each  citizen,  as  a  constituent 
part  of  the  legislating  people,  has  a  share  ;  so  that,  as  far  as 
his  vote  has  effect,  he  is  his  own  sovereign  and  a  law  unto 
himself.  The  law  is  the  result  of  the  general  suffrage,  per- 
haps of  long  discussion,  angry  dispute,  and  a  small  majority. 
The  ballot-box,  like  a  mighty  crucible,  fuses  together  the  con- 
flicting prejudices,  sectional  jealousies,  antagonist  opinions, 
and  rival  aims,  which  move  the  millions  acting  their  several 
parts  within  the  vast  republic.  It  is,  therefore,  not  easy  to 
hush  the  passions  which  have  stirred  us  during  the  exercise 
of  our  elective  right ;  to  acknowledge  with  due  submission 
the  supremacy  of  the  general  over  the  individual  will ;  to  own 
the  rule  of  those  who,  though  the  majority,  we  believe  are  in 
the  wrong ;  to  respect  and  love  (ay,  love,  for  without  respect 
and  love  there  is  no  loyalty)  the  .people  whose  errors  we  see, 
whose  faults  we  condemn,  whose  policy  we  dread.  Still,  such 
loyalty  must  be  cherished,  or  our  Union,  now  moving  in  har- 
mony, like  the  heavenly  orbs,  by  the  nice  balance  of  its  cen- 
trifugal and  centripetal  forces,  would  soon  become  a  chaos  of 
fragments  wild,  jostling,  and  mutually  destructive. 

Why  should  not  such  loyalty  be  cherished  ?  Will  not  the 
issue  of  our  ballot-box  come  nearer  the  right  than  the  will  of 
a  crowned  despot,  or  of  an  hereditary  nobility,  or  of  any 
privileged  class  ?  Plas  history  shown  the  world  so  well  gov- 
erned by  the  autocrat  or  the  few,  the  happiness  of  the  many 
so  cared  for  by  those  who  held  themselves  above  and  not  of 


394  THE    CLAIMS    OF    OUR    COUNTET 

them ;  has  political  virtue  so  run  in  the  line  of  legitimacy,  or 
political  wisdom  so  been  the  consequence  of  high  birth,  that, 
for  some  slight  mistakes  or  even  disastrous  failures,  Ave  should 
abandon  our  popular  system  to  adopt  any  other  ?  On  the 
contrary,  has  not  experience  proved  the  safety  and  self-per- 
petuating energy  of  our  institutions  ?  When  our  national 
government  was  formed,  how  many  scornful  voices  in  the 
Old  World  confidently  prophesied  its  speedy  downfall,  from 
the  alleged  want  of  elemental  adhesiveness !  Yet,  short  as 
our  history  is,  our  system  has  survived  most  of  the  European 
governments,  and,  as  the  signs  of  the  times  strongly  indicate, 
may,  at  no  very  distant  date,  outlast  them  all ;  except,  per- 
chance, our  sister  republics  of  the  Swiss,  which,  now  seven 
hundred  years  old,  tower,  like  the  Alps,  above  the  prostrate  or 
shaking  thrones  around  them.  How  often,  as  this  party  or 
the  other  came  uppermost,  have  the  disappointed  leaders  rent 
their  clothes,  and,  with  ashes  on  their  heads,  howled  dolefully 
over  the  land,  that  our  ruin  was  nigh,  that  our  commerce 
would  be  destroyed,  our  manufactures  crushed,  or  our  agricul- 
ture impoverished !  Yet,  notwithstanding  the  mischievous 
vacillations  of  our  economical  policy,  where,  a  few  years  since, 
there  was  one  ship,  there  is  now  a  fleet  of  merchantmen ; 
single  manufactories  have  grown  into  prosperous  cities ;  there 
is  scarcely  a  farmer  in  the  old  States,  who  has  not  pulled  down 
his  house  and  barns  to  build  better  and  larger ;  while,  in  the 
new,  the  virgin  forests  have  gone  down  to  let  the  sunshine 
smile  upon  fields  of  plenty  so  rich  and  vast  that  their  statistics 
almost  stagger  belief  We  are  but  seventy-three  years  old, 
yet  our  States  are  thirty  where  there  were  thirteen  ;  nor  can 


ON   ITS   LITERARY  MEN.  395 

any  one,  who  candidly  compares  the  two  periods,  deny  that 
we  have  grown  more  united  as  our  millions  have  multiplied, 
and  more  consolidated  as  our  territory  has  expanded,  until 
our  Constitution,  like  a  noble  arch,  stronger  by  every  fresh 
weight  imposed  upon  it,  now  upholds  in  a  prosperity  unexam- 
pled an  area  equal  to  the  continent  of  Europe. 

There  are,  doubtless,  diflferences  of  opinion  respecting  some 
of  the  steps  by  which  these  results  have  been  attained  ;  but  it 
is  only  with  things  as  they  are,  or  promise  to  be,  that  our 
present  reasoning  is  concerned.  In  the  year  1824,  the  Ora- 
tion was  pronounced  before  you  by  a  gentleman  then  not  un- 
known to  fame  as  an  accomplished  scholar,  but  since  eminently 
distinguished  as  the  erudite  statesman  of  whose  eloquent 
power  Massachusetts  has  been  justly  very  proud,  as  the  digni- 
fied representative  of  American  culture  while  diplomatically 
representing  the  United  States  at  the  first  court  of  Europe, 
and  (not  the  least  of  his  well-merited  honors)  as  the  head  of 
your  great  University.  His  discourse  then  was  fervid  with 
patriotic  hopes,  and  demonstratively  prescient  of  our  country's 
rapid  advancement ;  but  how  must  his  generous  heart  rejoice 
to  see  that  the  accomplished  reality  has  far  transcended  his 
warmest  anticipations !  Indeed,  the  aim  of  the  address  you 
are  now  hearing  so  patiently  is  humbly  to  follow  out,  through 
the  accumulated  facts  of  1849,  some  of  the  thoughts  with 
which  he  stirred  our  youthful  ambition  twenty-five  years 
ago. 

That  there  are  portentous  evils  existing  among  us,  national 
crimes  provoking  the  wrath  of  Heaven,  practices  widely  in- 
consistent with  the  just  theory  of  equality  which  we  avow, 


396  THE    CLAIMS    OF    OUR    COUNTRY 

and  fearful  perils  to  be  met  at  no  very  distant  day,  it  were 
folly  to  deny ;  but  let  us  remember  that  everything  human  is 
necessarily  imperfect,  that  Heaven,  while  condemning  sin,  is 
mercifully  patient  with  the  infirmities  of  the  sinner,  and  that 
reform  is  arduously  slow,  as  vice  is  precipitant.  Instead  of 
desponding  because  all  we  desire  has  not  been  done,  we  should 
be  highly  encouraged  by  the  achievement  of  so  much.  Cer- 
tainly, no  people  ever  made  such  growth  in  wealth,  arts,  gen- 
eral knowledge,  and,  considering  all  the  circumstances,  social 
virtues.  The  large  scope  given  to  expression  of  thought,  and 
the  multiplying  opportunities  of  moral  influence,  have  already 
wrought  most  salutary  changes  of  public  sentiment  on  impor- 
tant subjects.  The  triumph  of  truth  with  the  prevalence  of 
right,  though  delayed,  is  certain,  and,  when  gained,  will  be 
permanent.  Let  us,  then,  not  heed  the  murmurs  of  the  self- 
conceited  dogmatist  because  his  opinion  is  not  the  pivot  on 
which  the  nation  swings  ;  of  the  sordid  gain-seeker,  who  would 
turn  the  country's  force  to  enhance  the  profits  of  his  ship  or 
his  furnace,  his  cotton-plant  or  his  spindle  ;  or  of  the  fanatic 
nuUifier,  of  whatever  latitude,  who  would  sever  his  State  or 
his  section  from  such  a  league  of  powerful  coadjutants,  to 
dwindle  in  puny  isolation.  Thank  God,  the  Samson  is  not, 
never  will  be,  born,  who  can  pull  down  our  glorious  edifice  for 
the  silly  gratification  of  breaking  his  own  pate  !  One  honest 
American  woman's  scissors  ai'e  more  than  a  match  for  all  the 
strength  such  heads  can  wear. 

Our  people  deserve  our  trust.  Far  and  wide  as  they  have 
stretched  themselves,  they  hold  one  political  faith.  The  new 
States,  allowing  for  the  difference  of  period  and  circumstan- 


ON  ITS   LITERARY  MEN.  397 

ces,  are  but  repetitions  of  the  old  thii-teen.     At  this  time  of 
nearly  universal  uprising  and  struggles  for  reform  elsewhere, 
we  present  to  the  world  the  unprecedented  spectacle  of  unani- 
mous satisfaction  with  the  system  of  government  established 
by  our  national   fathers.     Within  the  past  and  the  coming- 
years,  there  will  have  gone  from  among  us,  lured  by  the  hope 
of  golden  rewards,  to  our  new  territory  on  the  Pacific,  num- 
bers, principally  of  hardy,  well-taught,  determined  young  men^ 
equalling  the  population  of  an  entire  State;  an  instance  un- 
paralleled throughout  the  history  of  emigration ;  yet  no  one 
doubts  that  they  will  choose  for  themselves  the  same  forms  of 
government  under  which  they  have  been  educated,  or  that 
they  will  cordially  maintain  their  allegiance  to  the  Union.     A 
citizen  of  the  United  States  cannot  imagine  the  possibility  of 
living  in  happiness  under  any  other  system  ;  and  now,  when 
contemplating  the  efforts  of  distant  nations,  sprung  from  the 
same  loins  that  we  are,  for  the  establishment  of  constitutional 
freedom,  we  estimate  their  chances  of  permanent  success  by 
their  approach  in  forms  to  our  own,  in  spirit  to  ourselves.. 
Nor  have  we  been  inconsistent  with  our  professions ;  for, 
whatever  has  been  the  decree  of  the  ever-shifting  majority^ 
submission  to  law,  and  reliance  upon  the  constitutional  meth- 
ods of  correcting  error,  have  steadily  prevailed.     At  least,  the 
exceptions  have  been  too  inconsiderable  to  impair  the  rule, 
and  were  speedily  settled.     Wonderful  as  was  the  revolution 
which  made  the  colonies  free,  independent,  confederate  States, 
every  national  exercise  of  the  elective  right  is,  though  on  dif- 
ferent grounds,  worthy  of  equal  admiration.     We  change  our 
national  rulers,  and,  with  them,  our  national  policy ;  yet,  from 
34 


398  THE    CLAIMS    OF   OUR   COUNTRY 

one  end  of  the  country  to  the  other,  there  is  less  riot  than  in 
England  at  the  election  of  a  member  of  Parliament.  Nor 
can  the  most  inveterate  laudator  temporis  acti,  who  has  read 
the  newspapers  published  at  the  time  of  the  earlier  contests, 
deny  that  each  general  election  is  better  conducted  than  were 
those  before. 

We  are  emphatically  one  people.  The  constant  and  ex- 
panding flood  of  emigrants  from  less  favored  lands  gives  in 
some  sections  a  temporary,  superficial  diversity  of  customs, 
and  even  of  language.  Yet,  as  tbey  come  moved  by  an  ad- 
miring wish  to  share  our  privileges,  and  a  grateful  respect  for 
the  nation  which  has  made  itself  so  prosperous,  while  it  sets 
open  its  gates  so  hospitably  wide,  they  readily  adopt  our  usa- 
ges, and  soon  become  homogeneous  with  the  mass  through 
which  they  are  distributed.  Until  they  or  their  children  are 
educated  in  free  citizenship,  they  follow  ;  but  rarely,  and  then 
never  successfully,  attempt  to  lead.  As  the  Anglo-Saxon 
tongue  is  the  speech  of  the  nation,  so  it  is  the  Anglo-Saxon 
mind  that  rules.  The  sons  of  those  who  triumphed  in  the 
war  of  Independence  have  subdued  the  distant  forest,  making 
the  wilderness  to  rejoice  with  the  arts  and  virtues  of  their 
fathers.  The  patronymics  borne  by  the  most  influential  among 
them  are  most  frequently  such  as  are  familiar  and  honorable 
among  us.  Summon  together  the  dwellers  in  any  town  of 
our  older,  particularly  of  our  more  northern,  States,  and  you 
will  find  that  there  is  scarcely  a  State  of  the  Union  where 
they  have  not  relatives.  The  representative  in  Congress 
from  the  farthest  West  laughs  over  their  school-boy  frolics 
with  the  representative  of  the  farthest  East.     The  woodsman 


OK    ITS    LITERARY   MEK.  3»9 

on  the  Aroostook  talks  of  his  brother  on  the  Rio  Grande ; 
the  tradesman  in  the  seaport,  of  his  son,  a  judge,  in  Missouri. 
The  true-hearted  girl,  who  has  left  her  mountain  birth-place 
to  earn  her  modest  paraphernalia  amidst  the  ponderous  din  of 
a  factor}'  near  the  Atlantic  coast,  dreams  sweetly  on  her  toil- 
blest  pillow  of  him  who,  for  her  dear  sake,  is  clearing  a  home 
in  the  wilds  of  Iowa,  or  sifting  the  sands  of  some  Californian 
Pactolus.  We  all  claim  a  common  history,  and,  whatever  be 
our  immediate  parentage,  are  proud  to  own  ourselves  the 
grateful  children  of  the  mighty  men  who  declared  our  coun- 
try's independence,  framed  the  bond  of  our  Union,  and  bought 
with  their  sacred  blood  the  liberties  we  enjoy.  Nor  is  it  an 
insincere  compliment  to  assert,  that,  go  where  you  will.  New 
England  is  represented  by  the  shrewdest,  the  most  enlight- 
ened, the  most  successful,  and  the  most  religious  of  our  young 
population.  Nearly  all  our  teachers,  with  the  authors  of  our 
school-books,  and  a  very  large  proportion  of  our  preachers,  as 
well  as  of  our  editors,  (the  classes  which  have  the  greatest 
control  over  the  growing  character  of  our  youth,)  come  from 
or  receive  their  education  in.  New  England.  Wherever  the 
New  Englander  goes,  he  carries  New  England  with  him. 
New  England  is  his  boast,  his  standard  of  perfection,  and  "  So 
they  do  in  New  England ! "  his  confident  answer  to  all  ob- 
jectors. Great  as  is  our  reverence  for  those  venerable  men, 
he  rather  wearies  us  with  his  inexhaustible  eulogy  on  the 
Pilgrim  Fathers,  who,  he  seems  to  think,  have  begotten  the 
whole  United  States.  Nay,  enlarging  upon  the  somewhat 
complacent  notion  of  his  ancestors,  that  God  designed  for 
them,  "  his  chosen  people,"  this  Canaan  of  the  aboriginal 


400  THE    CLAIMS    OF    OUR   COUNTRY 

heathen,  he  looks  upon  the  continent  as  his  rightful  heritage, 
and  upon  the  rest  of  us  as  Hittites,  Jebusites,  or  people  of  a 
like  termination,  whom  he  is  commissioned  to  root  out,  ac- 
quiring our  money,  squatting  on  our  wild  lands,  monopolizing 
our  votes,  and  marrying  our  heiresses.  Whence,  or  how 
justly,  he  derived  his  popular  sobriquet,  passes  the  guess  of  an 
antiquary ;  but  certain  it  is,  that,  if  he  meets  with  a  David, 
the  son  of  Jesse  has  often  to  take  up  the  lament  in  a  different 
sense  from  the  original,  —  "I  am  distressed  for  thee,  my 
Brother  Jonathan  !  "  Better  still,  his  sisters,  nieces,  female 
cousins,  flock  on  various  honorable  pretexts  to  visit  him  amidst 
his  new  possessions,  where  they  own  with  no  Sabine  reluc- 
tance the  constraining  ardor  of  our  unsophisticated  chivalry ; 
and  happy  is  the  household  over  which  a  New  England  wife 
presides !  blessed  the  child  whose  cradle  is  rocked  by  the 
hand,  whose  slumber  is  hallowed  by  the  prayers  of  a  New 
England  mother  I  The  order  of  the  Roman  policy  is  re- 
versed. He  conquered,  and  then  inhabited ;  the  New  Eng- 
lander  inhabits,  then  gains  the  mastery,  not  by  force  of  arms, 
but  by  mother-wit,  steadiness,  and  thrift.  That  there  should 
be',  among  us  of  the  other  races,  a  little  occasional  petulance, 
is  not  to  be  wondered  at ;  but  it  is  only  superficial.  The 
New  Englander  goes  forth  not  as  a  spy  or  an  enemy,  and  the 
gifts  which  he  carries  excite  gratitude,  not  fear.  He  soon 
becomes  identified  with  his  neighbors,  their  interests  are  soon 
his,  and  the  benefits  of  his  enterprising  cleverness  swell  the 
advantage  of  the  community  where  he  has  planted  himself, 
thus  tending  to  produce  a  moral  homogeneousness  throughout 
the  confederacy.     Yet  let  it  be  remembered  that  this  New 


ON  ITS   LITERARY  MEN. 


m 


England  influence,  diffusing  itself,  like  noiseless  but  trans- 
forming leaven,  through  the  recent  and  future  States,  while  it 
makes  them  precious  as  allies,  would  also  make  them  formi- 
dable as  rivals,  terrible  as  enemies.  The  New  Englander 
loses  little  of  his  main  characteristics  by  migration.  He  is  as 
shrewd,  though  not  necessarily  as  economical,  a  calculator  in 
the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi,  as  his  brethren  in  the  East,  and 
as  brave  as  his  fathers  were  at  Lexington  or  Charlestown. 
It  were  the  height  of  suicidal  folly  for  the  people  of  the  mari- 
time States  to  attempt  holding  as  subjects  or  tributaries,  di- 
rectly or  indirectly,  the  people  between  the  Alleghanies  and 
the  Rocky  Mountains ;  but  those  who  have  not  travelled 
among  our  prairie  and  forest  settlements  can  have  only  a  faint 
idea  of  the  filial  reverence,  the  deferential  respect,  the  yearn- 
ing love,  with  which  they  turn  to  the  land  where  their  fathers 
sleep,  and  to  you  who  guard  their  sepulchres.  The  soul 
knows  nothing  of  distance ;  and,  in  their  twilight  musings, 
they  can  scarcely  tell  which  is  dearer  to  their  hearts,  —  the 
home  of  the  kindred  they  have  left  behind  them,  or  the  home 
they  have  won  for  their  offspring.  Be  it  your  anxious  care, 
intelligent  gentlemen  of  New  England,  that  so  strong  a  bond 
is  never  strained  to  rupture  ! 

Variety  of  climate,  of  soil  and  position,  must  make  variety 
in  pursuits  of  life  and  habits  of  thought.  The  energy  of  our 
national  character  in  various  departments  of  productive  skill 
(the  relations  of  which  to  each  other  are,  as  yet,  not  generally 
well  understood)  must  excite  competition,  perhaps  some  jeal- 
ousy. Nor  can  all  be  expected  to  think  alike  on  many  ques- 
tions of  national  policy.     Ou  the  other  hand,  Providence  has 

34* 


402  THE    CLAIMS    OP   OUR   COUNTRY 

SO  wisely  distributed  its  blessings,  tbat  we  may  not  choose  but 
to  be  mutually  dependent.     The  products  of  our  immense  in- 
land territory  must  find  vent  for  the  surplus  through  the  ports 
of  the  seaboard,  through  which,  again,  must  come  the  luxuries 
or  necessaries  we  require   from  abroad.     The   agricultural 
States  offer  the  best  markets  for  the  manufactures  of  those 
whose  soil  is  less  fertile,  yet  dearer,  and  labor  more  abundant ; 
while  these,  in  their  turn,  are  rewarded  with  plenty  of  bread- 
stuffs  and  other  provision.      Iron,  lead,  coal,  copper,  goldpass 
each  other  on  their  way  to  distant  localities.     There  are  no 
empty  return-wagons,  rail-cars,  or  coasting  vessels ;  each  car- 
ries back  wealth  purchased  by  the  wealth  which  it  brought. 
Our  immense  lakes,  with  ther  rich  teeming  borders  thousands 
of  miles  about,  act  like  inner  impelling  arteries  to  the  trade  of 
tLe  whole  country.     Our  great  navigable  rivers,  with  their 
numerous  tributaries,  ramify,  like  veins,  for  the  circulation  of 
a  common  life  through  leagues  none  pretends  to  count,  and 
millions  whose  increase  none  dares  to  guess.     Nay,  by  the 
wonderful  inventions  of  recent  years,  we  are  no  longer  depen- 
dent upon  the  watery  ways  of  nature,  and  wellnigh  annihilate 
distance.     On  the  wings  of  steam,  the  population  and  wealth 
of  whole  towns  may  speed,  swifter  than  a  bird,  along  the  roads 
which,  binding  us  together  by  iron  sinews,  pierce  mountains, 
fipan  valleys,  and  measure  the  continuous  level  by  minutes, 
not  miles,  so  that  we  say, "  How  long  ?"  instead  of"  How  far  ?" 
The  slender  wires,  now  stretching  like  network  over  the  land, 
quickly  as  living  nerves,  thrill  thought  and  feeling  between 
correspondents  the  most  remote.     And,    by  the    admirable 
working  of  our  confederate  unity,  is  felt  through  all,  like  the 


ON   ITS   LITERAKY   MEN.  403 

beating  of  a  central  heart,  the  power  of  one  national  will.  In 
a  word,  we  realize  more  fully  than  Rome,  with  its  Senate  and 
Plehs,  could  do,  the  fable  of  old  Menenius  Agrippa,  and  are 
as  virtually  connected  as  the  several  parts  of  the  human  anat- 
omy, —  "  that  there  may  be  no  schism  in  the  body,  but  that 
the  members  should  have  the  same  care  one  for  another ;  and 
whether  one  member  suffer,  all  the  members  suffer  with  it,  or 
one  member  be  honored,  all  the  members  rejoice  with  it." 

Suppose,  for  one  melancholy  moment,  that  this  healthful 
economy  of  exchanges  were  broken  up,  —  that  the  Western 
valley  were  shut  out  from  the  sea  by  adverse  governmeutsj 
—  that  those  on  the  coast  were  hemmed  in  to  their  own  nar- 
row limits  by  hostile  forts  along  the  mountain  ridges,  —  that 
between  the  North  and  the  South  there  were  neither  commer- 
cial nor  moral  sympathy,  —  that  at  every  State  line  passports 
were  demanded  and  a  tariff  set ;  —  who  must  not  shrink  from 
describing  the  terrible  consequences ;  the  stagnation  of  trade  ; 
the  silence  of  brotherly  counsel :  the  constant  feuds  ;  the  mul- 
tiplication of  armies  ;  the  Cain-like,  exterminating  wars  ;  the 
overthrow  of  law  by  military  dictators ;  the  utter  ruin  of  all 
that  makes  us  prosperous  at  home  and  respected  abroad  ;  the 
sure  catastrophe,  moral  and  national  death  ?  O  that  those, 
who,  for  any  reason,  talk  lightly  of  dissolving  this  Union,  would 
consider  the  immensely  greater  evils  such  a  rupture  would 
inevitably  cause,  the  awful  guilt  it  would  bring  upon  them- 
selves !  Whatever  may  be  the  cant  of  words,  no  lover  of  law 
could  ever  kindle  the  torch  of  such  incendiarism,  no  lover  of 
peace  provoke  such  fratricidal  slaughter,  no  lover  of  freedom 
plot  for  such  general  slavery,  no  lover  of  God  and  man  under- 


404  THE   CLAIMS    OF   OUR   COUNTRY 

mine  the  eminent  watch-tower  whose  light  is  now  shedding 
over  the  world  such  bright  promise  of  a  universal  brotherhood. 
Were  it  possible  that  an  American  womb  could  be  so  cursed 
as  to  bring  forth  so  diabolical  a  monster,  and  the  malignant 
Erostratus  could  be  successful,  a  loud,  bitter,  heaven-compel- 
ling cry  would  go  up  from  all  the  earth,  swelled  by  generation 
after  generation,  until  the  final  fires  shall  have  swept  to  hell 
all  trace  of  human  crimes ;  "  Anathema  !  Anathema  !  Anath- 
ema Maranatha!" 

We  ought,  it  is  true,  to  have  little  fear  of  our  being  over- 
taken by  so  terrible  a  calamity  ;  but  our  courage  can  rationally 
be  derived,  under  God,  only  from  a  warranted  confidence  in 
our  people,  that  they  will  have  sense  enough,  probity  enough, 
religion  enough,  to  pursue  the  conduct  upon  which  the  per- 
manence of  our  welfare  depends.  For  these  reasons,  this 
feeble  but  earnest  voice  calls  upon  you,  gentlemen,  and,  so  far 
as  it  can  reach,  upon  literary  men  throughout  the  country,  to 
exert,  by  the  many  legitimate  means  at  hand,  the  vast  influ- 
ence Providence  has  intrusted  us  with,  for  the  cultivation  6f  a 
high,  generous,  unsectional  patriotism ;  a  patriotism  whose 
rule  can  be  best  given  in  the  immortal  words  of  one  who,  more 
than  once,  has  upborne  on  his  Atlantic  shoulders,  safe  through 
perils,  the  sphere  of  the  Constitution :  "  Our  country,  our  whole 
country,  and  our  country  as  one  !" 

God  has  not  given  us  talents,  and  permitted  us  to  cultivate 
them,  that  they  may  be  terminated  upon  ourselves.  Fasci- 
nating as  the  charms  of  study  are,  and  delightful  the  calm, 
secluded  hours  in  which  we  hold  converse  with  the  philoso- 
pher, the  poet,  the  orator,  and  the  historian,  made  immortal 


ON   ITS    LITERARY   MEN.  405 

by  their  pages  ;  and  unwilling  as  we  may  be  to  tear  ourselves 
away  from  pleasures  so  exquisite,  for  any  living  society  or 
engagements  of  the  outer  world,  neither  the  law  of  our  Cre- 
ator, nor  the  urgencies  of  the  times,  permit  such  luxurious 
self-indulgence.  Thought,  truthful,  clear,  and  argumentative 
of  good  deeds,  is  an  oracle  from  heaven  ;  eloquence,  whether 
of  the  voice  or  of  the  pen,  comes  from  a  divine  afflatus  ;  and 
woe,  woe,  in  this  world  and  in  the  next,  to  that  man  whom 
God  has  thus  ordained  his  prophet,  if  he  utters  not,  or  if  he 
perverts,  the  revelation  !  Study,  when  not  directed  to  useful 
ends,  becomes  a  vice;  and  superior  knowledge  makes  us  more 
guilty  than  our  fellow-men,  if  we  offer  them  no  share  in  our 
acquisitions.  Yes!  far  more  worthy  of  thanks  from  man,  and 
of  reward  from  God,  is  the  digger  of  the  ditch  that  drains  the 
marsh,  the  hewer  of  the  wood  that  warms  a  dwelling,  the 
veriest  menial  that  serves  our  necessities,  than  the  scholar 
who  refuses  his  enlarged  powers  to  the  benefit  of  his  race, — 
who  distinguishes  with  more  than  Hermaic  subtilty  between 
"  the  Me  "  and  the  "  not  Me,"  yet  neglects  the  actual  morals 
around  him, — who  would  sing  solitarily  his  own  pumice-worn 
numbers,  self-charmed  by  their  Attic  purity,  though  the  city 
were  burning,  —  who  intent  over  his  problem,  cares  not  that 
an  enemy  has  forced  the  gates,  —  or  who  exhausts  upon  the 
particles  of  a  dead  language  an  energy  which  might  save  im- 
mortal souls ! 

Your  candor,  gentlemen,  will  interpret  these  remarks,  not 
as  disrespectful  to  learning,  (which  would  be  sacrilege  on  an 
occasion  like  this,)  but  as  hortatory  to  its  proper  use,  and  as 
dissuasive  from  a  selfishness  more  refined,  yet  scarcely  less 


406  THE    CLAIMS    OF   OUR   COUNTRY 

guilty  than  the  hoarding  of  a  miser.     EiTor  is  never  idle, 
never  uncommunicative,  but,  like  its  malignant  father,  goes 
pestilently  about  to  corrupt  human  happiness.     Ignorance  is 
never  idle,  but  rushes  on  from  blind  impulse,  often  the  more 
mischievous  when  honest,  because  superstition,  prejudice,  or 
fanaticism,  inspires  it  with  the  strength  of  conscience.     Mind 
will  be  active,  the  moral  being  will  be  busy ;  and  if  they  who 
have  the  skill  direct  not  its  force  to  good,  it  will  be  working 
evil.     It  is  the  plan  of  God,  "  the  Father  of  lights,"  —  Pat&r 
ipse  colendi,  —  that  men  shall  be  regenerated  and  sanctified 
by  truth,  —  truth  communicated  through  the  instrumentality 
of  men  whom  he  calls  to  work  with  himself,  —  truth,  the  pro- 
per, sole  medium  of  his  omnipotent  rule  over  the  freedom  of 
his  rational  creatures.     We  are,  therefore,  verily  faithless  to 
God  and  dishonest  towards  men,  if  we  bury  his  gift,  which, 
through  a  zealous  usury,  might  make  many  rich,  or  hide  the 
light  which  he  has  kindled  in  our  souls  for  the  scattering  of 
darkness  around  us.     Yes !  the  miser  who  hoards  gold  is  des- 
picable, yet  he  withdraws  only  a  temporary  convenience ;  the 
speculator,  who  stores  away  bread  in  time  of  famine,  makes 
gain  of  mortal  suffering;  the  skilful  physician,  who,  from  cow- 
ardice or  love  of  ease,  attempts  not  the  rescue  of  his  neighbors 
sick  of  a  plague,  is  negatively  a  murderer;  but  he  who  knows 
truth  and  the  method  of  imparting  it,  yet  keeps  it  back,  se- 
cretes the  riches  of  eternity,  the  food  of  immortal  spirits,  the 
sure,  only  remedy  of  all  human  woe. 

The  lessons  of  the  abstract,  when  apprehended  aright,  tend 
steadily  to  the  practical.  Our  researches  as  scholars  are  in 
the  past,  but  our  business  is  in  the  present  and  the  future. 


ON  ITS   LITERARY  MEN.  407 

And  what  an  unprecedented  field  does  our  present  and  future 
open  to  the  philanthropic  exertions  of  intellectual  men !    Hu- 
man nature  is  ever  radically  the  same.     That  as  yet  anony- 
mous science  which  concerns  the  knowledge  of  human  nature 
has  few  fundamental  axioms.     Solomon  wrote  proverbs  for 
all  ages.     The  characters  of  Tacitus  transmigrate  through  all 
generations.     But  the  developments,  the  combinations  and 
phases  of  human  action,  in  these  times,  are  unexampled.    The 
labyrinth  has  become  so  complicated,  that  our  hand  cannot 
securely  grasp  the  ball  of  the  clew.     Zeno  himself  could  not 
keep  cool  amidst  such  universal,  multiform,  constant  excite- 
ment.    Once,  a  few  thought,  and  still  fewer  led;  now,  all 
think,  and  none  are  willing  to  follow.     Mountains,  seas,  diver- 
sities of  language,  hereditary  enmities  of  races,  scarcely  retard 
the  revolutionary  contagion.     Armies  receive  the  command 
to  "charge!" — they  obey;  but  first  come  "right  about  face," 
and  rout  with  their  bayonets  Vetat  major.     Bulls,  whose  roar 
once  shook  terribly  the  earth  like  one  wide  Bashan,  now  wail 
plaintively  and  feebly  as  a  famishing  calf  outside  the  gate  of 
its  paddock.     The  pawns  toss  kings  and  queens,  knights,  bish- 
ops, and  rookish  nobles  from  the  board,  to  play  out  the  game 
among  themselves.     Constitutions  are  woven  in  a  night,  and 
are  swept  away  like  cobwebs  by  the  morning  broom.     Rulers 
and  ministries  treat  oaths  as  lightly  as  do  smugglers  in  a  cus- 
tom-house.    The  giant,  MAN,  long  crushed  by  usurpers  of 
divine  right,  is  flinging  off  the  ^tna  from  his  mangled  breast. 
His  limbs  are  not  yet  drawn  from  under  the  quaking,  groan- 
ing, fire-spouting  mass ;  but  he  is  sure  to  rise.     He  will  reel 
blindly,  at  first,  from  inveterate  weakness  of  limb,  his  head 


408  THE  CLAIMS  OF  OUR  COTTNTET 

dizzy  with  his  new  uprightness ;  his  enemies  will  hurl  on  him 
their  frightened  vengeance ;  he  will  stagger,  stumble,  fall ; 
but,  gaining  strength  eacli  time  he  presses  the  bosom  of  his 
mother  earth,  he  will  gather  himself  up,  drive  opposing  pow- 
ers irrevocably  back  to  more  than  Egyptian  darkness,  and 
stride  triumphantly  forwards  until  he  reaches  the  goal  which 
the  good  God  has  promised  him, — consummate  freedom,  hap- 
piness undefiled,  imperishable  dignity  in  the  Divine  image. 
The  truth  of  a  liberated  Gospel  will  dissipate  his  errors,  as 
Minerva  did  the  mists  from  the  eyes  of  Diomed,  and  the  noble 
prophecy  of  the  Tusculan  be  fulfilled :  "  Perfecta  mens,  id  est 
absoluta  ratio,  quod  est  idem  virtus." 

Such  is  the  agitated,  hopeful  world,  and  such  the  crisis  of 
its  changes  in  which  we  are  called  to  labor ;  but  our  immedi- 
ate sphere  is  our  own  country,  the  sphere  where  our  zeal  will 
tell  most  effectively  on  the  destinies  of  mankind.  The  exam- 
ple of  our  national  character,  developed  by  our  liberal  institu- 
tions, has,  more  than  all  other  causes  combined,  waked  up  the 
spirit  of  the  Old  World.  The  radiance  of  our  well-adjusted 
freedom  is  melting  away  the  icy  fetters  that  have,  from  time 
immemorial,  frozen  to  moral  numbness  the  larger  portion  of 
Continental  Europe.  The  name  of  America  sounds  like  that 
of  heaven  on  earth  to  the  voluntary  exiles  who  leave  their 
fatherlands  in  the  confidence  of  finding,  for  themselves  and 
their  children,  a  better  country,  fulness  of  bread,  and  the 
rights  of  their  own  sweat.  The  eyes  of  their  kindred  follow 
them  to  our  shores.  The  news  of  our  advancement,  our  state 
papers,  the  issues  of  our  unshackled  press,  go  back,  despite  of 
the  keenest  surveillance,  with  their  endorsement  to  their  native 


ON   ITS    LITERARY   MEN.  4U9 

hamlets.  Political  philosophers  and  ardent  philanthropists 
come  westward,  that  they  may  study  our  recent  but  vigorous 
systems,  as  the  Greek  once  went  to  the  older  land  of  the  Nile. 
A  strong  word,  distinctly  spoken  here,  echoes  through  hut  and 
palace,  cabinet  and  camp,  of  distant  but  anxious  listeners.  O, 
then,  let  us  work  now,  that  we  may  work  for  the  stupendous 
future;  let  us  work  for  our  country,  that  we  may  benefit  the 
world ! 

There  are  those  who  will  turn  away  in  disgust,  sallow  and 
smoke-dried  as  a  mediaeval  legend,  from  these  exhortations  to 
the  present  and  future,  as  from  the  ravings  of  an  upset- 
ting radical;  —  men,  so  oppugnant  in  their  mental  temper, 
that  they  can  never  think  out  of  an  antithesis  to  common 
sense,  counting  it  glory  when  they  deny  the  obvious  and  ad- 
vocate the  exploded,  —  or  who,  shuddering,  without  faith  in 
the  Presiding  Spirit,  at  the  friction,  the  order-working  friction, 
of  conflicting  opinions,  imagine  that  chaos  is  come  again,  and 
grasp,  like  drowning  swimmers,  at  any  floating  fragment  of 
precedent  or  authority.  There  is  a  fashion  (for  fashion  dresses 
the  inside  as  well  as  the  outside  of  the  head)  of'  tergiversant 
sentimentality,  a  sombre  affectation,  which  looks  back  admi- 
ringly and  regretfully  upon  the  middle  centuries,  as  Lot's  wife 
would  have  looked  upon  the  Dead  Sea,  had  she  survived  till 
the  next  morning;  whining  "like  a  sick  girl"  over  the  sturdy 
plainness,  the  prosaic  directness,  the  unpoetical  utilitarianism, 
of  our  modern  republican  ways ;  sighing  for  the  priestly 
pomps,  the  brilliant  chivalry,  the  royal  stateliness  of  feudal 
times,  when  portly  abbots  locked  up  the  rare  Bible,  but  doled 
fragments  of  the  monkish  feasts  to  the  ragged,  kneeling,  cruci- 
35 


410  THE    CLAIMS    OF    OUR    COUNTRY 

signing  rabble  of  pilgrims  at  the  refectory  gate ;  or  the  letter- 
less vassal  tilled  the  soil  for  his  lord's  profit,  fought  in  his 
lord's  quarrel,  and  held  his  life  by  his  lord's  caprice.  Shocked 
at  the  crowding  of  the  vulgar  many  into  the  very  penetralia 
of  knowledge  and  social  amenities,  these  resurrectionists  of 
mortified  deformity  shudder  at  the  scream  of  a  locomotive  as 
though  it  were  a  fiery  dragon,  while  there  is  no  Saint  George 
to  meet  its  fury ;  the  hum  of  machinery  threatens  them  with 
a  moral  earthquake ;  and  a  primary  school  they  regard  as  a 
nursery  of  precocious  conspirators  against  prescribed  faith 
and  stagnant  order.  The  evil  spares  nothing  it  can  reach. 
The  delicious,  dreamy  seat,  to  whose  undulating  excellence 
Boston  had  the  honor  of  giving  invention  and  a  name,  is 
thrust  aside  for  a  high,  straight-backed  chair  of  torture,  after 
an  Elizabethan  pattern  of  old-maidish  prudery ;  nor  can  we 
approach  our  nightly  resting-place  without  danger  of  being 
knocked  on  the  head  by  some  Gothic  hobgoblin.  Our  fairest 
books  and  their  delicate  etchings  are  overlaid  by  facsimiles  of 
illuminated  parchments,  on  whose  pages  a  clumsy-fingered 
cenobite  has  plastered  rickety  angels  and  epileptic  martyrs, 
in  patches  of  coarse  gold-leaf,  staring  azure,  and  red  lead.  * 
Nay,  you  may  see  our  own  poets  set  forth  with  such  barbaric 
embellishment,  in  which  they  figure  as  appropriately  as  Piers 
Ploughman  would  in  gaiter-boots,  or  Juliana  Berners  in  a 
Jermy-Lind.  Head-men  of  parishes  are  ridden  by  architec- 
tural nightmare,  until  the  white,  airy,  clap-boarded  meeting- 
house, where  their  fathers  worshipped  God  in  the  simple  Man 

*  Minium,  red  oxide  of  lead,  was  much  used  in  the  embellishment  of 
manuscripts.    Hence  miniatores,  and,  as  some  think,  illumination. 


ON    ITS    LITERARY   MEN.  411 

of  Nazareth,  gives  place  to  a  low-eaved,  steep-roofed,  cold, 
damp,  rough-stone  barn,  in  which  the  preacher's  voice  is  lost 
among  the  groined  rafters,  and  his  people  cannot  see  to  read 
his  text  by  the  dim  light  that  comes  through  painted,  lanceo- 
lated  windows,  streaming  a  distorted  rainbow  over  the  con- 
gregation, making  the  wife  wonder  why  her  husband  looks 
so  blue,  while  the  good  man  fears  she  is  seized  with  jaundice 
and  the  children  with  scarlet  fever ;  yet,  after  all,  the  gro- 
tesque pigmy  no  more  resembles  the  grand  picturesque  of 
England's  old  churches,  than  a  graveyard  obelisk  Cleopatra's 
Needle. 

Far  be  it  from  us  to  speak  disrespectfully  of  the  few  minds 
which  shone  in  the  twilight  of  Europe,  looming  larger  through 
the  fog,  yet  heralding  the  dawn.  No  true-hearted  student  is 
without  a  strong  antiquarian  sense  of  the  interest  attached  to 
the  beginning  of  art,  letters,  and  civilization ;  neither  can  one, 
who  has  visited  the  minsters  and  cathedrals  of  Britain  by  day, 
or  Melrose  and  Glastonbury  by  moonlight,  ever  forget  his  ad- 
miration of  the  creative  genius  which  combined  more  than 
Cyclopean  strength  with  more  than  Corinthian  luxuriance ; 
but  we  must  protest  against  this  sacrificing  of  convenience  for 
an  imitation  of  the  antique,  this  making  venerable  of  all  that 
is  old,  this  condemnation  of  the  useful  as  the  unspiritual.  To 
an  elevated,  healthy  imagination,  there  is  more  poetry  in  a 
nicely  constructed  steam-engine,  working  with  its  Titan  sin- 
ews and  Briarean  hands,  yet  breathing  softly  as  a  sleeping 
child,  than  in  all  the  knightly  tournaments  and  sacerdotal 
shows  that  our  ancestors  ever  wondered  at ;  all  the  trouba- 
dours of  Provence  had  not  a  tithe  of  the  romance  that  a  clear, 


412  THE    CLAIMS    OF    OUK    COUNTET 

aesthetical  eye  can  see  hanging  round  a  village  of  factory-girls, 
every  one  of  whom  is  a  living  story  of  love,  hope,  constancy, 
and  courage ;  a  modern  linen-weaver's  label  often  presents  as 
fine  specimens  of  Arabesque  as  can  be  found  in  a  virtuoso's 
cabinet ;  nay,  if  richness  of  design,  grace  of  drawing,  and  har- 
monious contrasts  of  color  be  criteria  of  good  taste,  we  may 
point  to  a  Sunday  group  of  servant-maids,  in  the  fresh  pride 
of  their  Lowell  printed  calicoes,  and  say,  —  "  Solomon  in  all 
his  glory  was  not  arrayed  like  one  of  these !" 

Be  it  our  aim,  gentlemen,  as  it  is  our  privilege,  to  learn  all 
that  the  past  can  teach  us  by  its  successes  and  its  failures,  to 
take  out  of  it  only  what  is  good,  beautiful,  true,  and  right.  It 
were  the  folly  of  dotage  to  do  more.  As  for  the  rest,  "  Let 
the  dead  bury  their  dead,"  but  let  us  "go  and  preach  the 
Gospel,"  light  for  the  ignorant,  justice  for  the  laborer,  freedom 
for  the  slave,  "  peace  on  earth  and  good-will  towards  men." 
Antiquity  !  What  is  antiquity  ?  Is  the  world  growing  young- 
er ?  Had  our  fathers  more  experience  than  we,  who  have 
their  experience  added  to  our  own  ?  "  We  are  the  ancients," 
said  the  great  leader  of  modern  science.  The  present  is  the 
better  antiquity ;  the  future  will  be  the  best. 

It  were  presumption  to  set  forth  before  you  the  methods  in 
which  we,  as  literary  men,  may  serve  our  country.  Our  re- 
sponsibilities are  in  accordance  with  our  faculties  and  our  op- 
portunities. There  are  various  degrees  of  mental  force,  some 
forms  of  talent  are  better  adapted  to  have  power  over  men 
than  others,  and  equal  chances  for  exercising  zeal  are  not 
given ;  but  every  literary  man,  because  he  can  reach  many, 
is,  by  calling,  a  public  servant,  and  bound  to  act  upon  a  lar- 


ON   ITS   LITERARY  MEN.  413 

ger  theatre  than  the  less  gifted  individual,  who  can  reach  only 
a  few.  "Whatever  tends  to  promote  true  religion  and  the  hap- 
piness necessarily  connected  with  sound  morals,  to  improve 
the  arts  of  life,  to  refine  the  general  taste,  to  enlarge  the  pub- 
lic mind,  to  throw  elevating  or  endearing  associations  around 
our  country,  is  a  patriotic  service.  The  preacher  of  Christ  in 
his  pulpit,  the  teacher  of  youth  in  his  school,  the  man  of  science 
in  his  experimental  lucubrations,  the  historian  in  his  research- 
es, the  artist  in  his  studio,  the  poet  in  the  melodies  of  his  lute 
or  lyre,  every  man  who  employs  his  educated  powers,  should 
act  from  patriotic  motive ;  not  the  patriotism  of  a  section,  but 
of  our  whole  country ;  which,  unless  this  argument  has  been 
sadly  erroneous,  is  eminently  consistent  with  duty  to  God  and 
devotion  to  our  race.  The  stern  Dordrechtian  theology  of 
your  orator  (which,  he  is  well  aware,  has  but  little  favor  here, 
even  among  the  straitest  sects  of  the  Orthodox)  will  not  allow 
him  to  speak  of  disinterested  benevolence ;  for,  as  he  beheves, 
the  Divine  system  recognizes  no  such  virtue.  The  harmony 
of  a  soul,  which  Aristotle  considers  its  moral  perfection,  lies 
in  an  accurate  adjustment  of  self  and  love.  Self  ia  an  au- 
thorized motive,  but  only  when  hand  in  hand  with  love.  The 
delight  accompanying  intellectual  exertion  and  desire  of  fame, 
both  of  which  every  literary  man  feels  so  keenly,  becomes  a 
noble  enthusiasm  when  we  make  the  aim  of  our  scholar's  life 
the  benefit  and  illustration  of  our  native  land.  True  as  the 
oft-repeated  maxim  may  be,^ 

"  Dulce  et  decorum  est  pro  pstria  mori," — 

it  is  not  less  sweet  and  honorable  to  live  and  labor  for  its  last- 
35* 


414  THE    CLAIMS    OF   OUR   COUNTRT 

ing  interests.  The  most  perilous  warfare  is  that  in  wliicTi 
only  fearless  reason  can  win  victory  for  the  right ;  and  there 
are  knots  in  the  cords  binding  man's  soul,  which  can  be  cut 
by  no  sword,  however  keen,  but  must  be  untied  by  strong, 
persevering  logic.  Neither  warrior  nor  statesman  adorns  his 
birth-place  with  more  imperishable  glory  than  the  author  who 
achieves  immortal  usefulness.  In  a  single  night  were  written 
both  verse  and  melody  of  that  Marseilles  Hymn,  which,  like 
a  whirlwind,  has  swept  down  successive  tyrannies,  and  will  be 
chanted  as  a  spell  of  liberating  might,  until  the  brave  shall  no 
longer  need  to  arm  at  the  call  of  freedom.  Shame  upon  our 
men  of  genius,  that  our  people  have  as  yet  neither  national 
song  nor  air  worthy  of  the  name  !  The  poet  who  will  indite 
for  us  such  a  song,  the  composer  who  will  give  us  such  an  air, 
may  be  sure  of  a  fame  to  which  that  of  Pindar  is  poor. 
Where  on  earth  is  there  a  river,  except  the  old  Nile,  the  yel- 
low Tiber,  or  the  sacred  Jordan,  to  which  a  pilgrim  turns 
with  higher  emotion  than  the  "  Silver  Avon  ?"  Virgil,  when, 
amidst  the  splendors  of  the  Augustan  city,  he  recalled,  as  the 
Shepherd  Tityrus,  his  early  haunts,  sang  smilingly, — 

"  Urbem,  quam  dicunt  liomam,  Meliboee,  putavi 
Stultus  ego  huic  nostrse  similem ;" — 

but  when  the  author  of  the  ^neid  came  to  die,  the  first  words 
he  dictated  for  his  funeral  urn  were  a  legacy  of  his  fame  to 
his  native  village, — 

"  Mantua  me  genuit." 
The  waves  of  the  jEgean,  as  they  dash  against  its  vine-sur- 


ON   ITS   T.ITEKART  MEN.  415 

mounted  cliffs,  echo  the  name  of  him  who  from  his  misty 
throne  looks  down  without  a  peer  in  epic  grandeur,  — 

"  The  blind  old  man  of  Scio's  rocky  isle." 

A  curious  traveller  may  find  on  the  innermost  curve  of  the 
Gulf  of  Contessa  the  wretched  village  of  Stauros.  There 
once  stood  the  strong,  magnificent  city  of  a  mighty  people, 
who,  with  mortal  courage,  contending  against  perfidious  Athens, 
perished  amidst  its  ruins.  All  the  names  of  those  martyrs  for 
liberty  with  whose  blood  the  Strymon  ran  red  are  passed  from 
the  memory  of  man,  and  their  grand  examples  lost  in  the  ob- 
scurity of  unrecorded  time ;  but  a  mention  of  The  Stagirite 
comes  upon  our  souls  like  a  charm  of  power,  as  the  name  of 
him  who,  through  more  than  two  decades  of  centuries,  since 
he  died  an  exile  on  the  shore  of  the  Euripus,  has  swayed  the 
widest  empire  over  human  thought  ever  granted  to  an  unin- 
spired mind.  Gentlemen,  be  it  yours  to  glorify  with  similar, 
if  not  equal,  trophies  the  land  of  your  birth ! 

Under  those  governments  which  fetter  the  press  and  allow 
the  people  no  just  share  in  deciding  their  own  fortunes,  where 
words  of  right  are  no  sooner  heard  than  the  fearless  voice 
that  uttered  them  is  hushed  by  death  or  the  dungeon  door, 
there  may  be  excuse  for  educated  men  who  give  themselves 
up  wholly  to  mere  abstract  studies  or  pursuits  strictly  scholas- 
tical.  The  guilt  of  their  silence  is  on  their  oppressors.  Here, 
not  only  is  there  perfect  freedom  in  expressing  opinion,  but, 
in  speaking  to  the  people,  we  address  the  governing  will.  Of 
that  governing  will  we  are  ourselves  a  part,  and  therefore  we 
are  bound  by  our  share  in  the  government  to  contribute  all 


416  THE   CLAIMS    OF   OUR   COUNTRY 

we  can  for  its  direction  and  prosperity.  Our  simple  votes  are 
not  enough ;  the  most  ignorant  boor,  the  vilest  ragamuffin  of 
our  cities,  can  cast  his  vote  as  well  as  we.  It  is  our  duty,  be- 
cause it  is  within  our  power,  to  enlighten  others  who  vote  with 
us.  The  principles  of  our  government  are  few,  and  firmly, 
logically  settled  by  the  Constitution,  in  so  plain  a  manner  as 
scarcely  to  leave  room  for  an  honest  dou'.t;  yet  its  nature  is 
so  unexampled,  that  it  must  continue  to  be,  as  it  has  been, 
eminently  one  of  experiment.  The  questions  that  will  arise 
will  be  such  as  should  receive  the  intelligent  consideration  of 
every  citizen;  but,  at  the  same  time,  they  will  be  chiefly 
questions  of  political  ethics  and  political  economy.  If  the 
moral  integrity  and  substantial  wealth  of  the  country  be  cared 
for,  there  remains  little,  if  anything,  else  to  demand  our  at- 
tention. Both  these  subjects  come  fairly  within  the  reach  of 
the  studious  man.  It  may  even  be  said,  that  he  only  is  capa- 
ble of  investigating  them  candidly  and  of  treating  them  thor- 
oughly. In  those  countries  where  rule  is  usurped  by  the  fewi 
the  privileged  classes  repress  the  knowledge  of  the  rest ;  in 
ours,  where  the  people  have  the  power,  and,  through  our  dif- 
fused education,  more  or  less  a  habit  of  reasoning,  the  effort 
of  designing  self-seekers  is  to  mislead  by  specious  sophistry, 
garbled  facts,  or  distorted  statistics.  Every  present,  acciden- 
tal, temporary  uneasiness,  every  sectional  interest,  every  preju- 
dice attached  to  the  sound  of  words,  (and  they  are  as  manifold 
as  they  are  mischievous,)  is  eagerly  seized  upon  to  create  a 
popular  excitement  for  the  furtherance  of  narrow  or  unna- 
tional  views.  The  charm  of  party  is  thrown  round  selfish 
ends.     The  priests  of  the  idol  taboo  every  subject,  a  misrep- 


ON   ITS   LITERARY   MEN.  417 

resentation  of  which  can  help  them  to  oflBce,  that  none  others 
may  open  it  and  expose  their  iniquity.     It  is  our  duty,  as  ed- 
ucated men,  trained  in  the  calmness  of  study,  acquainted  with 
the  certainties  of  knowledge,  to  disabuse  our  people  of  the 
false  and  edify  the  n  on  the  true.     We  are,  or  should  be,  ele- 
vated by  the  advantages  we  profess  above  many  of  the  diffi- 
culties and  temptations  which  hinder  common  minds  in  searches 
after  truth.     Prejudice  of  every  kind,  like  the  mists  of  the 
lowlands,  should  lie  far  beneath  us  ;  for  it  is  our  privilege,  if 
we  deserve  our  name,  to  breathe  a  clear,  rarefied  atmosphere, 
where  no  exhalations  of  earth  come  between  us  and  the  sun- 
light.    From  these  heights  we  have  a  wide  circuit  of  vision. 
The  past  opens  to  us  its  experience,  the  great  present  is  spread 
out  before  us,  and,  so  far  as  they  can  be  inferred  from  the 
comparison  of  the  past  with  the  present,  we  discern  the  con- 
tingencies of  the  future.     If  it  be  impossible  not  to  feel  the 
influences  of  sect,  party,  or  vicinage,  let  us  not  be  in  bondage 
to  either.     Christianity  is  more  than  sect,  patriotism  more 
than  party,  our  country  than  the  section  where  we  live.     It  is 
our  vocation  to  make  known  truth,  and,  while  bad  men,  or 
narrow-minded  men,  or  ignorant  men,  reasoning  falsely  from 
isolated  facts,  would  distract  or  mislead  the  people,  to  show 
them  that  human  legislation  should  be  ever  in  accordance 
with  the  fixed,  fundamental  laws  o    God  ;  that  the  best  wel- 
fare of  the  whole  is  the  best  welfare  of  each ;  our  best  policy, 
an  unwavering  vindication  of  the  general  right ;  our  best  free- 
dom, fidelity  to  God,  each  other,  and  mankind.     Motives  of 
personal  gain  should  in  us  be  overborne  by  a  liberal  love  of 
the  beautiful,  the  proper,  and  the  good.     Such  demonstration 


418  THE    CLAIMS    OF    OUR    COUNTRY 

of  sound  political  doctrine  is  most  urgently  needed.  It  is  high 
time  that  the  discussion  of  themes  so  vitally  important  should 
be  no  longer  abandoned  to  mere  traders  for  votes,  who  now 
superciliously  denounce  the  moralist  and  the  student  as  inter- 
meddlers,  if  they  speak  of  things  concerning  the  public  weal ; 
it  is  high  time  that  questions  of  social  right  and  national  econ- 
omy should  be  treated  on  better  grounds  than  the  pecuniary 
profits  of  classes  who  insist  upon  contending  as  rivals  when 
they  should  be  coadjutors ;  it  is  high  time  that  the  people 
should  hear  voices  of  warning  or  encouragement  from  those 
who  ask  nothing  and  aim  at  nothing  but  the  general  good. 
Never  will  justice  be  done  to  inquiries  which  most  affect  our 
national  advantage,  until  the  name  of  politician  be  taken  from 
the  office-seeker,  and  given  to  the  Christian  philosopher,  who, 
from  the  fear  of  God  and  for  the  sake  of  man,  studies  and 
"speaks  the  truth  in  love,"  "out  of  good  conscience,"  and 
"  with  the  meekness  of  wisdom." 

Let  us  not  be  driven  from  a  duty  so  sacred  and  so  honora- 
ble by  the  sneering  assertion,  that  such  matters  can  be  rightly 
handled  only  by  what  are  called  "  practical  men,"  and  that 
bookish  theorists  are  out  of  place  in  the  busy  world.  Prac- 
tice ?  Theory  ?  When  was  there  ever  right  practice  but 
where  theory  had  gone  before  ?  What  guides  the  merchant's 
ship,  drives  the  manufacturer's  engine,  enriches  the  farmer's 
ground,  flashes  instant  news  across  and  throughout  a  continent, 
but  theory  ?  Mark,  we  say  theory,  not  hypothesis  ;  for  the 
pert  bunglers  always  confound  those  terms.  Hypothesis  is  a 
guess ;  but  theory  is  hypothesis  proved  by  induction  from 
facts.     What  were  your  practical  men  without  theorists? 


ON  ITS   LITERARY  MEN.  419 

Precisely  what  the  hands,  feet,  and  other  working  parts  of 
the  human  system  would  be  without  the  brain.  Are  we  less 
capable  of  distinguishing  fact  from  falsity  because  our  eyes 
are  not  sanded ,  by  gold,  our  ears  stuffed  with  cotton,  or  our 
consciences  hypothecated  in  bonds  payable  six  months  hence  ? 
Because  some  screaming  geese  once  saved  the  Capitol,  shall 
intellect  be  drummed  off  guard  ?  Justice,  candor,  gratitude, 
forbid  an  insinuation  of  the  least  disrespect  for  the  admirable 
virtues,  public  spirit,  mental  ability,  and  munificent  apprecia- 
tion of  knowledge,  which  dignify  many  of  those  who  are  truly 
practical  men,  —  of  whom  there  are  nowhere  finer  examples 
than  among  your  own  neighbors.  They  would  repudiate  the 
attempts  of  their  weaker  brethren  to  cut  them  off  from  an 
alliance  with  investigating  mind.  The  most  humble  labors 
in  the  workshop  or  the  field  has  a  title  to  our  thankful  esteem 
that  shall  never  be  denied.  But  we  would  fain  lash,  till  they 
howled,  the  vapid  dunces  who  think  that  there  can  be  no  prac- 
tical judgment  beyond  what  they  have  learned  from  a  petty 
practice,  or  an  acquaintance  with  the  price-current  and  stocfc- 
list,  yet  not  unfrequently  aspire  to  be  theorists  themselves, 
parading  their  puny  sciolism  on  stilts  of  preposterous  English 
and  worse  logic. 

Such  exhibitions  are  rather  ridiculous  than  melancholy ; 
but  sadness  mingles  with  indignation  when  Ave  see  genius  or 
strong  reason  selling  itself,  for  the  price  of  bread  or  pleasure, 
to  do  the  drudgery  of  scheming  avarice. 

"In  lacherlichem  Znge 
Erblickt  man  Ochs  und  Fliigclpferd  am  Pfluge." 

In  this  respect  our  politics  have  been  a  very  Tartarus  of 


420  THE   CLAIMS    OF   OUR   COUNTKT 

talent,  where  we  discover  one  ever  rolling  arduously  a  sugar- 
hogshead  ;  another  sweating  in  a  furnace  ;  another  lashed  to 
extravagant  eccentricities  of  ethics  and  logic  by  a  vindictive 
negro,  whom  he  will  carry  chained  on  his  back  as  a  proof  of 
eminent  republicanism  ;  another  whirling,  like  Ixion,  with  the 
constant  revolutions  of  a  factory  driving-wheel. 

Such  are  the  momentous  changes  now  rapidly  succeeding 
each  other,  that  a  faithful  scholar,  at  a  crisis  perhaps  not  ap- 
parent to  himself,  may,  by  a  few  well-digested  thoughts,  couched 
in  a  few  well-directed  sentences,  save  his  country  from  im- 
pending ruin.  History  has  not  a  finer  instance  of  the  power 
which  eloquence  may  exert  over  popular  fury,  than  that  of  a 
year  since,  when  a  single  modulated  voice  stayed  the  most 
sanguinary  mob  the  world  has  ever  known,  —  stayed  them  for 
long  hours,  when  bent  ravingly  on  destruction,  and  then  turned 
them  back  with  the  tricolor  waving  where  the  red  flag  had 
glared.  He,  who  won  that  triumph  of  such  incalculable  val- 
ue, was  not  a  practical  man,  and  has  since,  unfortunately, 
proved  himself  not  a  successful  statesman  ;  yet,  with  all  his 
subsequent  failures,  honor,  honor  to  Lamartine,  the  literary 
man,  the  orator !  Honor  to  the  Codes,  who,  single-handed, 
kept  the  bridge  against  the  impetuous  hordes  of  murderous 
incendiaries !  For  that  one  act  of  devotion,  he  deserves,  like 
his  prototype,  bread  while  he  lives,  and  a  statue  on  the  spot 
where  he  dies.  God  keep  our  country  from  such  a  day  of 
peril !  But,  should  our  voice  or  our  pen  be  needed,  and  we 
delay  our  duty  beyond  the  juncture  of  apt  circumstances,  our 
most  strenuous  endeavors  may  be  met  by  the  fatal  response, 
which  sealed  the  fate  of  a  splendid  dynasty,  "  Cest  trap  tard!  " 


ON   ITS   LITERARY  MEN.  421 

The  popular  mind  of  this  country  is  well  prepared  and  not 
ill-disposed  to  acknowledge  our  frank  zeal  on  their  behalf; 
though,  at  the  same  time,  what  are  opportunities  for  good  are 
also  opportunities  for  evU.  A  general  conviction,  that  each 
participant  of  the  democratic  sovereignty  should  be  fitted  as 
far  as  possible  for  the  exercise  of  his  elective  power,  has  made 
the  education  of  the  young  a  care  of  every  State  govern- 
ment ;  not  always  as  wisely  or  thoroughly  as  might  be  wished, 
yet,  where  the  diflSculties  of  recent  settlement  have  been  passed 
through,  or  the  incubus  of  slavery  does  not  weigh  down  the 
nominally  free,  it  is  eminently  the  popular  policy.  In  no 
other  country  are  there  so  many  readers,  or  readers  who  read 
so  much.  In  no  other  country  does  the  press  labor  more  to 
supply  the  demand  for  newspapers,  periodicals,  and  books. 
The  cheapness  of  publication  naturally  increases  the  demand, 
which,  again,  lowers  the  price  of  the  supply.  There  are  al- 
ways caterpillars  on  the  "  tree  of  knowledge,"  which  itself 
bears  a  double  fruit,  "  of  good  and  evil."  It  is  not,  therefore, 
to  be  wondered  at,  that  the  land  has  been  overrun  by  trashy 
and  dangerously  immoral  writings ;  but  the  good  is  out-work- 
ing the  evil.  Our  principal  publishing-houses  have  found,  by 
profitable  experiments,  that  the  market  for  the  most  substan- 
tial books  has  grown  in  a  far  greater  ratio  than  the  population  ; 
and  that  large  editions  of  works  on  the  most  useful  branches 
of  general  science  or  literature  have  been  rapidly  sold,  which, 
a  few  years  since,  would  have  lain  like  lumber  in  their  gar- 
rets. The  treasures  of  old  English  have  been  ransacked  to 
meet  in  compendious  forms  the  appetite  of  a  healthy  taste. 
Writers  of  the  first  class  have  arisen  from  among  ourselves, 

36 


422  THE   CLAIMS   OF   OUK   COUNTRY 

and  some  foremost  of  the  foremost  from  your  own  ranks, 
gentlemen,  to  compete  successfuly  with  those  of  the  Old 
World's  former  centuries ;  while  others,  of  less,  though  not 
despicable,  character,  especially  in  the  belles-lettres,  are 
springing  up  like  butter-cups  in  a  meadow.  Prejudice  against 
reading  an  American  book,  never  so  great  as  disappointed 
scribblers  supposed,  has  given  place  to  an  overweening  partial- 
ity for  home  productions,  not  only  in  literature,  but  in  art. 
Not  content  with  boasting  of  our  truly  great  names,  of  which 
any  land  or  age  might  be  proud,  we  resent  it  as  wrong  done 
America,  when  superlative  laudation  is  denied  any  pretty 
pen  that  traces  a  pleasing  story  or  a  string  of  creditable  verses  ; 
we  discover  Ciceros  plenty  as  the  stumps  which  serve  our 
oratora  for  rostra  ;  and  we  execrate  by  Apollo  all  unable  to 
detect  a  future  Angelo  in  every  untaught  youth  who  chips  a 
head  out  of  stone,  or  dashes  a  crude  conception  on  canvas. 
There  is  no  country  where  reputation  for  talent  or  scholarship 
is  so  easily  won,  or  mental  labor,  except  of  the  highest  kind, 
is  better  paid. 

No  doubt  this  has  in  a  measure  repressed  the  ambition  of 
some,  who,  conscious  of  high  powers,  are  unwilling  to  be 
jostled  on  so  crowded  an  arena.  When  extreme  epithets  of 
praise  are  lavished  upon  hasty,  ephemeral  trifles,  there  remain 
no  terms  worthily  to  designate  the  productions  of  deep,  long 
thought.  The  Virgilian  patience,  which  spends  a  day  upon 
an  hexameter,  will  not  endure  being  evened  with  the  fatal 
facility  which  improvises  a  hundred  lines  stems  pede  in  uno. 
The  Olympian  eloquence,  which  labored  for  twenty  years  on 
a  eulogy  of  democratic  Athens,  would  have  but  little  chance 


ON  ITS  LITERARY  MEN.  423 

against  the  torrent  hyperbole  of  a  Western  Pericles,  who 
lords  it  over  his  shouting  constituents  by  an  inspiration  caught 
from  the  buffalo-hunt,  the  flow  of  the  Mississippi,  the  crash  of 
the  forest  before  the  axe,  or  the  solitude  of  the  ocean-wide 
prairie,  yet  which  as  seldom  fails  to  hit  the  centre  of  human 
enthusiasm,  as  his  rifle-baU  the  heart  of  a  flying  deer.  Nor 
is  it  surprising  that  a  devotee  to  one  particular  branch  of  sci- 
ence, more  than  sufficient  of  itself  for  ten  lives,  should  some- 
times shrink  from  the  omnigenous  competition  which  is  equally 
ready  at  inventing  a  cooking-stove  or  an  ethical  system,  and 
wiU  take  to  the  pulpit,  the  bar,  a  professor's  chair,  a  seat  in 
the  Senate,  or  the  Presidency  of  the  United  States,  if  only 
sure  that  the  emoluments  of  the  new  speculation  will  exceed 
those  of  a  quack-medicine,  a  peddling-wagon,  or  a  singing- 
school.  But  such  readiness  to  honor  intellectual  effort  proves 
a  liberal,  upward  tendency  of  our  people,  who,  though  they 
may  now  applaud  excessively  the  less  worthy,  will  sooner  or 
later  appreciate  the  more  deserving ;  and  such  restless  versa- 
tility of  talent  shows  an  energy  of  mental  enterprise,  which, 
if  the  rich  soil  be  cultivated  aright,  promises  no  scanty  har- 
vest. 

Besides,  there  is  an  unmistakable  and  increasing  dispo- 
sition to  philosophical  methods  of  thought  and  action.  The 
cry  is  for  ideas,  and,  though  often  affected,  the  fashion  is  to 
demand  principles,  and  at  least  a  show  of  demonstration.  Our 
people  claim  for  themselves,  and  would  transmit  to  their  chil- 
dren, the  right  of  private  judgment;  and  the  faculty,  nurtured 
by  political  habits,  is  exercised  on  all  subjects  brought  before 
them.  It  is  as  natural  for  an  American  to  reason  as  to  breathe ; 


424  THK   CLAIMS    OF   OUR   COUNTKT 

and  his  favorite  method  (no  doubt,  from  shrewd  New  Eng- 
land example)  is  the  Socratic.  He  will  believe  nothing,  do  noth- 
ing, submit  to  nothing,  without  knowing,  or  thinking  that  he 
knows,  why.  He  is  much  fonder  of  the  lecture-room  than  of  the 
spectacle.  He  wiU  listen  to  any  one  on  any  subject,  provided  the 
lecturer  offers  proof;  but  his  questions  Why  ?  and  How  ?  readily 
silence  the  most  plausible  declaimer.  From  these  and  other 
causes,  there  is  throughout  our  country  (though,  for  obvious 
reasons,  greater  in  some  sections  than  others)  an  activity  and 
sensitiveness  of  mind  unexampled  and  increasing.  The  ad- 
vocate of  truth  can  desire  no  opportunity  more  magnificent. 

One  thought  more.  With  the  history  of  this  country,  God 
began  a  revolution  in  his  treatment  and  development  of  hu- 
man nature.  Up  to  that  moment,  the  great  divisions,  even 
the  larger  sub-divisions,  of  our  race  had  been  kept  apart  from 
each  other,  separated  and  made  distinct  by  climate,  by  lan- 
guage, by  hereditary  habits.  The  eastern  and  southern  quar- 
ters of  the  globe  we  leave  for  the  present  out  of  our  calcula- 
tion, as  their  time  of  revival  is  yet  far  in  the  future,  and 
speak  of  Europe.  Even  Christianity  has  failed  to  accom- 
plish a  coalescence.  The  mysteries  of  Osiris  still  hnger  around 
the  altars  of  Magna  Grsecia.  The  Druids  have  left  in  the 
customs  of  Britain  monuments  lasting  as  Stonehenge.  Taci- 
tus may  serve  the  modern  traveller  as  an  Itinerary  through- 
out what  was  Gerraania  Antiqua.  The  fetters  of  national 
prejudice  have  eaten  into  the  bone,  and  the  quick  flesh  is 
grown  over  them.  Each  nation  has  married  only  with  its 
own  blood,  and  the  evils  of  the  incest  are  upon  their  offspring. 
Each  has  kept  its  own  characteristic  vices  and  virtues  apart 


ON  ITS   LITERA.RY  MEN.  425 

from  those  of  the  others ;  yet  it  is  a  law  of  Providence,  that 
distinct  vices  act  as  checks  upon  their  rival  passions,  while 
virtue  is  stimulated  by  virtue.  The  Italian  is  only  an  Italian, 
the  Frank  a  Frank,  the  Spaniard  a  Spaniard ;  and  so  each 
of  the  rest  is  now  well  nigh  as  distinct  as  when  Caesar  wrote 
his  Commentai'ies.  Some  changes  have  been  wrought 
by  Religion  and  the  Press,  but  neither  Religion  nor  the 
Press  has  had  its  fair  influence ;  the  one  has  been  distorted, 
the  other  manacled,  both  abused  by  national  law  and  national 
sentiment.  The  higher  orders  of  society,  who  travel  and 
read,  may  assimilate  from  a  common  creed  of  etiquette ;  but 
the  people,  the  plebeians,  remain  distinct  and  the  same.  The 
men,  and  even  the  women,  (varium  et  mutabile  fcemina^  of 
separate  cantons,  departments,  duchies,  or  shires,  have  inher- 
ited fashions  of  dress  from  their  grandfathers  and  grand- 
mothers, great,  great,  great  beyond  arithmetic.  The  war  of 
races  and  tribes  is  now  deluging  Europe  with  blood.  The 
enmity  among  them  there  seems  ineradicable. 

But  what  has  God  done,  what  is  He  doing,  what  is  He 
about  to  do,  in  this  land  ?  He  has  set  it  far  away  to  the  west^ 
and  made  it  so  circumstantially  independent,  that,  if  all  the 
rest  of  the  habitable  earth  were  sunk,  we  should  feel  no  seri- 
ous curtailment  of  our  comforts.  The  products  of  the  whol6 
world  are,  or  may  soon  be,  found  within  our  confederate  hm- 
its.  He  brought  here  flrst  the  sternest,  most  religious,  most 
determined  representatives  of  Europe's  best  blood,  best  faith, 
best  intellect ;  men,  ay,  and  women  (it  is  the  mother  makes 
the  child),  who,  because  they  feared  God,  feared  no  created 
power, —  who,  bowing  before  His  absolute  sovereignty,  would 

Oi 


426  THK    CLAIMS    OF    OUU    COUMKY 

kneel  to  no  lord  spiritual  or  temporal  on  earth,  —  and  ■who, 
believing  the  Bible  true,  demanded  its  sanction  for  all  law. 
To  your  Pilgrim  Fathers  the  highest  place  may  well  be  ac- 
corded ;  but  forget  not,  that,  about  the  time  of  their  landing 
on  the  Rock,  there  came  to  the  mouth  of  the  Hudson  men  of 
kindred  faith  and  descent,  —  men  equally  loving  freedom,  — 
men  from  the  sea-washed  cradle  of  modern  constitutional 
freedom,  whose  union  of  free  burgher-cities  taught  us  the  les- 
son of  confederate  independent  sovereignties,  whose  sires  were 
as  free,  long  centuries  before  Magna  Charta,  as  the  English 
are  now,  and  from  whose  hne  of  republican  princes  Britain 
received  the  boon  of  religious  toleration,  a  privilege  the  States- 
General  had  recognized  as  a  primary  article  of  their  govern- 
ment when  first  established ;  men  of  that  stock,  which,  when 
offered  their  choice  of  favors  from  a  grateful  monarch,  asked 
a  University* ;  men  whose  martyr-sires  had  baptized  their 
land  with  their  blood ;  men  who  had  flooded  it  with  ocean- 
waves  rather  than  yield  it  to  a  bigot-tyrant ;  men,  whose  vir- 
tues were  sober  as  prose,  but  sublime  as  poetry ;  —  the  men 
of  Holland !  Mingled  with  these,  and  still  farther  on,  were 
heroic  Huguenots,  their  fortunes  broken,  but  their  spirit  un- 
bending to  prelate  or  prelate-ridden  king.  There  were  others 
(and  a  dash  of  cavalier  blood  told  well  in  battle-field  and 

*  After  the  eventful  issue  of  the  siege  of  Leyden,  the  Prince  of  Or- 
ange and  the  States-General,  grateful  to  the  heroic  defenders  of  that 
city,  offered  them  their  choice  of  an  Annual  Fair  or  a  University.  Tliey 
chose  the  University  ;  hut,  struck  with  tlie  nobleness  of  the  choice,  the 
high  authorities  granted  them  both.  Tlie  University  was  established  in 
1575,  and  became  the  Alma  Mater  of  Grotius,  Scaliger,  Bocrhaave,  and 
many  other  renowned  men. 


ON    ITS    LITEUAllY    JlJiX.  427 

council) ;  —  but  those  were  the  spirits  whom  God  made  the 
moral  substratum  of  our  national  character.  Here,  like  Israel 
in  the  wilderness,  and  thousands  of  miles  off  from  the  land  of 
bondage,  they  were  educated  for  their  high  calling,  until,  in 
the  fulness  of  times,  our  confedc;racy  with  its  Constitution  was 
founded.  Already  there  had  been  a  salutary  mixture  of 
blood,  but  not  enough  to  impair  the  Anglo-Saxon  ascendency. 
The  nation  grew  morally  strong  from  its  original  elements. 
The  great  work  was  delayed  only  by  a  just  preparation. 
Now  God  is  bringing  hither  the  most  vigorous  scions  from  all 
the  European  stocks,  to  "  make  of  them  all  one  new  mak  ;" 
not  the  Saxon,  not  the  German,  not  the  Gaul,  not  the  Helve- 
tian, but  the  American.  Here  they  will  unite  as  one  broth- 
erhood, will  have  one  law,  will  share  one  interest.  Spread 
over  the  vast  region  from  the  frigid  to  the  torrid,  from  Eastern 
to  Western  ocean,  every  variety  of  climate  giving  them  choice 
of  pursuit  and  modification  of  temperament,  the  ballot-box 
fusing  together  all  rivalries,  they  shall  have  one  national  will 
What  is  wanting  in  one  race  will  be  supplied  by  the  charac- 
teristic energies  of  the  others ;  and  what  is  excessive  in  either, 
checked  by  the  counter-action  of  the  rest.  Nay,  though  for 
a  time  the  newly  come  may  retain  their  foreign  vernacular, 
our  tongue,  so  rich  in  ennobling  literature,  will  be  the  tongue 
of  the  nation,  the  language  of  its  laws,  and  the  accent  of  its 
majesty.  Eternal  God  !  who  seest  the  end  with  the  be- 
ginning, thou  alone  canst  tell  the  ultimate  grandeur  of  this 
people ! 

Such,  gentlemen,  is  the  sphere,  present  and  future,  in  which 
God  calls  us  to  work  lor  Him,  for  our  country,  and  ibr  man- 


428  THE  CLAIMS  OF  OUR  COUNTRY,   ETC. 

kind.  The  language  in  which  we  utter  truth  will  be  spoken 
on  this  continent,  a  century  hence,  by  thirty  times  more  mil- 
lions than  those  dwelling  on  the  island  of  its  origin.  The 
openings  for  trade  on  the  Pacific  coast,  and  the  railroad  across 
the  Isthmus,  will  bring  the  commerce  of  the  world  under  the 
control  of  our  race.  The  empire  of  our  language  will  follow 
that  of  our  commerce ;  the  empire  of  our  institutions,  that  of 
our  language.  The  man  who  writes  successfully  for  America 
will  yet  speak  to  all  the  world. 


END. 


n 


